Things In My Head

Posting the pain away, one reblog at a time. Aging millennial, Linux evangelist, any/all

[xizorargus]

So you want to try Linux, but there's so many different kinds of Linux you have no idea what to choose?

I gotchu. Here's a quick, mildly opinionated guide to Picking Your First Linux Distro. No flow charts, no entire-ass genealogy of Linux distros, just find the heading that best describes what you want and pick one of the ones under that. Continued under the cut:

I want a distro that I can just Install And It Works!

Linux Mint

Pop!_OS

Both of these have great out-of-the-box experience and will get you up and running quickly. Pop uses a heavily modified version of the Gnome desktop which has a similar feel to MacOS, while Mint comes with either Cinnamon or XFCE desktop which both have similar feel to Windows XP or 7.

I want a blank slate distro that I can modify to my liking but still provides a functioning graphical interface to start from!

Debian

Fedora

Two of the three granddaddies of Linux. If you started with one of the distros from the previous section, I'd lean towards Debian as it uses the same package manager as Pop and Mint. That said, if you're starting to get more familiar with using the terminal and are willing to learn a few different commands, Fedora is still a strong pick. Both install with Gnome desktop by default.

I want to build my own installation from scratch, have access to bleeding-edge software, and become insufferable(affectionate)!

Arch

Y'all knew it was coming. Yes, "I use Arch btw" is meme'd into the dirt. Yes, you will become insufferable, but we still love you. If you really want to learn everything about Linux, nothing is going to be a better exercise in learning than building your own Arch install. Yes, there are command line and graphical installers for Arch these days, but I argue that defeats the purpose. The Arch wiki has step-by-step instruction on how to set up anything you could ever need.

I like the idea of Arch, but I'm lazy/busy/bald and I want something with a functional starting point!

EndeavourOS

Garuda Linux

Both of these picks are based on Arch, but with a few creature comforts: robust graphical installers, a broad selection for desktop environments or window managers, and fantastic default theming. Basically Arch with training wheels and sweet flame decals. You'll still have access to bleeding-edge software through the AUR and the Arch repositories, but without the setup headache.

I've been hearing about "immutable file systems" and how great they are for security, let's do something with that!

Fedora Silverblue

Vanilla OS

NixOS

If you want a better overview of what makes immutable file systems great and useful, check this article. If you're still early in your Linux journey, I'd recommend Silverblue or Vanilla as they're both install-and-go solutions that Just Work. However, if you've already conquered Arch and want to become even more insufferable(affectionate), NixOS is your next challenge.

I'm building a computer for a younger child (13 and under) and I want them introduced to Linux!

Endless OS

Edubuntu

Both of these are fantastic picks for a child's first Linux computer. Impressive libraries of educational and creativity software, robust security to ensure the little terror doesn't blow up the OS, and designed to still run well on lower end hardware. The main difference between the two is install size: Endless OS is a surprisingly large install (compared to most other Linux distros) due to the sheer volume of pre-installed software and resources. That said, if you can spare the drive space, I do recommend it over Edubuntu.

This is all very interesting, but why aren't you recommending _______?

Kali/Blackarch/ParrotOS - these distros are security and penetration testing tools, not for general use. If you're already a little familiar with Linux and want to deep dive into learning computer security, dive in. Otherwise, stay away.

Ubuntu - *deep sigh*. Look, it's not a bad distro. It's the parent distro of a good handful of the recommendations above. But in my experience, Snap packages (Ubuntu's bespoke software packaging system) cause more problems than they solve. Ubuntu will push you to install Snap versions of software over Flatpaks or native deb packages, and that annoys me. If you're willing to put up with Snap eccentricity, go right ahead.

Gentoo - if you thought Arch people were insufferable, wait until you meet a Gentoo person. Also, hope you like recompiling your kernel every time something breaks. Not worth the headache, just use Arch.

Manjaro - Read this article, it goes into more detail than I can here. Go with Endeavour or Garuda instead.

Okay, I think that's everything. If anyone has questions, feel free to reblog or comment.

[podcastwizard]

LIKES TO CHARGE REBLOGS TO CAST

[boringkate]

Seeing game devs take a "the customer is always right" approach to feedback is so sad because like I get it from a PR perspective, but…

1) The customer is always wrong

2) Your customers are gamers, so they're twice as wrong

[lastoneout]

Fun how the bystander effect was coined to cover up how cops are bigoted cowards who let a queer person die and Stockholm syndrome was also coined to cover that the cops handled a hostage situation so badly the hostages trusted their captors more than the cops.

[lastoneout]

Next you're gonna tell me 40% of all people beat their partners.

[moose-mousse]

... the bystander effect is... not applicable to police officers?

They are trained professionals, not bystanders

That is why them doing bad things is horrific...

I belive cops have used the bystander effect as an excuse to do bad things... and I that is cops being fools because again, the bystander effect does not apply to cops as they are not bystanders...

But it IS a real effect with a lot of proof behind it, unlike the Stockholm syndrome...

[mxjackparker]

@moose-mousse You've misunderstood the post. The bystander effect was coined to cover up police choosing not to help, by pretending bystanders (non-cops) choose not to report and so it's not their fault for responding slowly/too late to emergencies because they weren't informed. By pretending that bystanders didn't seek help or intervene, the cops can shift away blame and point to a natural phenomenon causing the public not to care.

It was coined after the murder of Kitty Genovese, because false statements were put out saying over 30 bystanders didn't help or call the cops and that's the excuse used for them not saving her... except people DID try to help, far fewer people saw/heard anything in the first place, and hesitancy to call the police is because of fear of police rather than any kind of bystander groupthink.

I recommend you read up more on this stuff before assuming you know better!

[driftwoodsix]

still living with my parents as an adult is just like. i'm grateful to not have to pay for groceries. i have to get out of here. i'm grateful to have a roof over my head and not have to pay rent. i have to get out of here. i'm grateful to not have to worry about sending out endless job applications that all lead to nowhere. i have to get out of here. i'm grateful i'm grateful i'm so fucking grateful. i have to get out of here

[lilboreddev-blog]

reblog if your name isn't Amanda.

[thatblackwatchdouche-blog-blog]

2,121,566 people are not Amanda and counting!

We’ll find you Amanda.

[world-heritage-posts]

world heritage post

[wheezecheese]

I HAVE to reblog this eleven million note post. That’s the most notes I’ve ever seen on tumblr. Also my name is Jade, not Amanda.

[atlaslovesedm]

HOW IS THERE SO MANY

[imathers]

[3liza]

do you live in seattle (the american city)?

yes

no

Remaining time: 1 day 9 hours

please reblog to get this poll out of my bubble, i want reach

[3liza]

so ive been meaning to do this poll for a while because my hypothesis is that seattle is the most Tumblr city, likely in the entire world. tumblr has a huge american majority userbase obviously, but just for comparison going forward, only 0.22% of the american population lives in seattle. as of this reblog, this poll is showing 4% of respondents are seattleites. given, this isnt scientific at all, because my blog just has a lot of seattle connections and seattle followers, but it's still an impressive bias

[iusedtobecharming-deactivated20]

Do we have a franz kafka diary entry for july 1st, i want to know what he thinks!!!

[rehearsing]

happy too tired July everyone

[transcyberism]

I missed having money so much

[theonion]

Drone Network Used To Smuggle Contraband Into Prisons

The FBI announced charges alleging that a sophisticated network of drones were used to deliver weapons, cell phones, and drugs into 10 federal prisons. What do you think?

[thelawfulchaotic]

Re your last rb, my friends and I read Are Prisons Obsolete? last year for our book club. What I remember of our discussion is that we agreed the answer was “yes!” but we weren’t sure what it actually looked like in practice, especially around (e.g.) murder or sexual crimes. What are some of the recommendations from the prison abolitionist movement?

I am also planning to check out some of the linked books, but this has always been a challenge for me to wrap my head around!

The first thing you have to let go of when you're imagining this is the idea that anywhere near this number of people in prison is normal or okay in most Earth societies. And to do that, you have to understand why people in prison are in prison.

Like half of them are there for probation or parole violations. That means it's hard to tell why exactly they're there, but, looking at the breakdown of probation and parole violations I've defended, it's actually not super likely that this is because of a new crime conviction. People get dinged on probation/parole violations for stuff that's legal for other people to do, including marijuana and alcohol, or not calling the probation officer enough, or being homeless, or not having a job because you got fired because of your probation meetings.

Next, the bulk of people in and out of local jails are there for honestly just stupid nonsense. Misdemeanor assaults, trespasses, drug possessions. There's compelling evidence that these short stays in jail increase recidivism, which, if you think about it, makes a lot of sense -- imagine your live being interrupted by an abrupt few months in jail. If you have family support, they might be able to retrieve your stuff from your place before your landlord leaves it all on a curb. You get an eviction on your record. You're fired. You might lose all your important documents if no one was available to get them from your apartment. And then you're spat back out with nothing, an overdrawn bank account, zero possessions except what you were arrested with, and told "now get a job or you're going back to jail."

Then there's mid-level cases that are felonies. Most people think felonies are Serious Business. They are -- in terms of consequences. The crimes that are felonies are defined in ways that are often absurd and ass-backwards. It's very hard to explain what I mean without just providing an example, so here goes.

In my state, there's a crime of "shooting at an occupied dwelling" (something clearly intended to be a law against drive-by shootings, which I would like to note were ALREADY ILLEGAL, it being illegal to attempt murder on people and to recklessly handle firearms etc., so the law was arguably totally unnecessary, but I digress). There is also a crime of discharging a firearm inside an occupied dwelling. This is not as bad of a crime as shooting at an occupied dwelling.

There is a notable case where a prosecutor chose to prosecute someone who shot inside a dwelling under the shooting at a dwelling law. Why? Because worser penalty is why. The higher Court, after appeal, ruled that a shooting done inside a dwelling is by default at a dwelling, since the dwelling is in fact in every direction from the shooter. Thus, every shooting in an occupied dwelling must be a shooting at an occupied dwelling. The less serious law is thus effectively nullified by the court.

I'll take it one step further. The law about shooting at an occupied dwelling also says that it doesn't have to be a gun, it can be a "missile." There's some language in there about how it has to cause significant risk of death or bodily harm. Despite that language, my most notable case under this law was the following facts:

One thirteen-year-old shot another thirteen-year-old with an Orbeez gun in a living room.

The judge refused to dismiss the charge. "Those things can put an eye out," she said. And thus the child was subject to felony liability for the drive-by shooting law for A FUCKING ORBEEZ GUN I SWEAR TO GOD I COULD NOT MAKE THIS UP IF I TRIED okay maybe I'm still a little mad

But the discussion on prison abolition tends to center not on these INCREDIBLY VAST MAJORITIES OF CASES where the law is stretched to fit the facts, where people weren't really hurt, where the police even generated the crime themselves perhaps by responding to a mental health crisis and provoking the situation until there are felony assault & battery on law enforcement charges.

Prison abolition discussions are all about what to do with murderers. Rapists. Abusers. Sex offenders.

To be clear, I believe there are some situations where a person will keep doing societal harm and will not stop. These situations are so shocking because they are so rare.

The first murderer I ever met was this guy who freely admitted what he did: he said he killed the guy who raped his daughter. He managed to get an incredibly low sentence out of the jury that heard the case. He was willing to pay the price of prison. He was honestly pretty interesting and willing to talk my visiting law student clinic through a lot of what had happened.

The first murder case I had, the client killed because of a sincerely held belief that he was in danger. The fact that this sincerely held belief was from an intense delusional psychosis makes it a deep tragedy.

Different places report different figures, but anywhere from half to 90% of the women in prison for murder are there for murdering an abusive spouse. Women don't fit under traditional definitions of self-defense, see; they don't wait until someone is coming at them ready to kill. Women shoot when the man is asleep. Women want to survive.

So even when you think of 'murder,' question this: why is heat-of-passion murder less bad in our system than premeditated murder? Premeditated murder, apart from serial killers, is a one-and-done thing. It's also much more common for female murderers to fall into the category of premeditation and for masculine to fall into heat of passion. People who murder when they're angry are an ongoing danger to society.

Prison abolition says: everything about this is wrong. Looking for an "alternative" is in many ways the trap question -- the wrong question. It's not about finding a different, better way to punish people. Maybe we still do need 1 in 100 of our current prisons to confine people who won't stop hurting others. Maybe a mental health system that's a tiny bit less pathetically anemic could help handle the load.

Prison abolition says: there's no reason to take this person out of society for x years, all of them at 100k/year expense to the taxpayers, subject to cruelty and dehumanization, in the interests of punishment, because it does too much harm. One year, nine months for possession of a meth pipe with residue? Go to a drug program, for god's sake. Two years, one month for larceny? Why spend more on locking the person up than they stole? Why lock them up where they can't pay restitution?

I can imagine a lot of ways it would look. Maybe prison abolition looks a lot like what we already have, except we have actual money available for other things. I think the point of books like Are Prisons Obsolete? is to start people thinking outside the box they've lived in their whole lives. Busting down that box is hard. It's super cool that y'all are reading that, btw. Hell yeah!

[were--ralph]

wait. brain blast incoming.

[were--ralph]

[Loading]

[were--ralph]

Adult restaurant/Play Place where you all play on the toys and jump around naked and have sex and all that fun stuff but if you dont want to you can sit and eat pizza and watch the other adults have sex and do fun things

and its called

Cuck E. Cheese

[were--ralph]

Even if its a flop post you can at least pretend its a good post

[prole-log]

[leebrontide]

Happy pride y'all.

[animammal]

[Image description: a post from 03 Jun 24 from normal wife (@ Category_Fury) which reads:

stop complaining about bi women having boyfriends and start throwing bricks at the citi bank float

/End ID]

[helenvaughans]

[zitasaurusrex]

[natalieironside]

You couldn't make Blazing Saddles today because Mel Brooks already made it in the past so that would be redundant

[xizorargus]

TV show pitch: lawyer show set in the GTA, focusing on a firm that exclusively works on cases in tree law from their boutique law firm in South Etobicoke

Coming this fall to CBC... Long Branch