#and then firefox crashed and wouldn’t open again until it updated

[singull]

I would very much like to chuck my work laptop across the fucking parking lot.

[terminalmemes]

Ignore this I’m mad about ads

Bro I hate ads I was trying to read an article I clicked on through this app and the moment I got NEAR an embedded ad the in-app browser slowed down egregiously until it fully froze, and my phone immediately got so fucking hot

I tried to go back or open the link in Firefox but the app was too frozen and had to be closed. Then I had to go try and find the article again (luckily I did) (still annoying) (took me a while because it was an article from 2006)

And like this happens all the time in tumblr mobile. I’ll be scrolling and things are fine up until an ad happens. Two or three posts before the ad shows up everything gets really laggy. Then scrolling past the ad takes forever, phone gets hot, battery level drops. Finish scrolling past the ad and it’s better again until the next one rears its head (probably in another 10 posts)

This even happens when I’m trying to scroll through my OWN blogs. Like I’m trying to find a specific drawing on my art archive which requires a lot of scrolling usually and the scroll becomes so horrendously choppy so fast from the ads I have to look at ON MY OWN BLOG and sometimes it leads to the app crashing. Yeah yeah don’t archive your art on tumblr whatever. I have the art on my computer but I kind of liked having it all on a side blog for the convenience of it. Not so convenient anymore

I regret updating this app (which was a difficult process)(phone wouldn’t update without being hooked up to the computer)(not that difficult actually just annoying) just to be able to see polls because these performance-tanking ads only showed up after I did the update

And honestly this isn’t just a tumblr app issue. The whole internet is just a wasteland if you don’t have an adblocker. The mobile app is one of the few spots where I don’t have an adblocker and it really just highlights how annoying it is. I am not interested in paying to go ad free. I’ve CONSIDERED it because it’s so annoying and actually severely negatively impacting how well this app runs but at the same time I don’t like the idea of needing to pay to get rid of a problem that was not there before. It feels like losing, in a way. Maybe that’s dumb. I don’t care

I miss the way the Internet used to be, in a lot of ways. Even with ad blockers you still end up hearing dozens of near identical ad reads from video sponsorships. And I don’t hate that people take sponsorships. I just hate hearing about Product………..and it always sounds like the same phrasing/script which gets old and repetitive to me. Like seeing the same commercial on tv too many times in a row.

I’m just tired of it man. I don’t want to be sold a product at every turn I take. Im just trying to chill here

[linuxlife]

Linux Life Episode 38

Well hello folks and welcome back to the world of Linux Life.  Not much happening regarding machines this episode as I have been exceptionally busy but there is a few topics regarding Linux which has been pretty prominent lately I would like to discuss.  This is probably going to be a long episode... you have been warned.

Topic 1 - Why is Linux not seen as a major desktop system.

This is an interesting discussion as given that Linux costs the huge price of absolutely nothing.  How come now that its about 15 years old is it not dominating Windows as the desktop OS environment.  Majority of the software is free and it should have a much larger reach than it currently has.

Thing is it is still seen as an operating system for geeks.  Linux installation is much easier than it ever was.  I’m a guy who started with Slackware and can remember having to do everything from text prompts.  Now everything is graphical and straightforward.  It will even set up to dual boot if the right options are selected or at least show you how to do so via a tutorial.

So what is real problem if not installation.  Application support is primarily seen by many as there is no Microsoft Office, Adobe Photoshop, Premiere Pro and After Effects, No FL Studio or Cubase products.

Now all of these can be run by Wine in Linux but they can only run the 32 bit versions of said software although 64 bit support is improving. Wine is constantly improving so more software running is becoming much easier.

However there is alternatives to said programs such as LibreOffice, GIMP, Kdenlive and Davinci Resolve. For music your have Ardour and Rosegarden.  Now I understand it would require major relearning of your workflow which will take time and effort which you may not be able to afford.

Linux has Firefox, Chrome, Opera and all the usual browsers so Internet is not a problem.  Also most wifi cards now have a driver automatically recognised.  A small number of cards don’t but compared to the early years it’s vastly improved.  It recognised about five wifi cards if you were lucky.

Linux also had many mail applications such as Thunderbird, Twitter support with Corebird and much more. So this is no longer a problem.

Now Gaming was always a stumbling point for Linux.  However Steam has been available for Linux for a number of years now and several games have a Linux version.  Recently Valve have started working with CodeWeavers the people behind the Wine project to create the Proton project.

This allows Steam to play Windows games in your Steam library using a modified Wine installation wrapper.  It runs quite a lot of games but currently is still in beta.  In time more and more games will work as the Proton driver is improved.  Also as Valve are working with the Wine guys it will also help it run various applications as the code will be available to it.

Linux is far more customizable than Windows.  Don’t like the look or setup.  You can normally move stuff or if you want replace the Windows Manager with one more to your preference.  While changing WM is not easy it can be done.  However theming and desktop modification is normally reasonably simple.

Also don’t need certain drivers then you can remove most of them bar the essentials.

The thing is with Linux is for all it’s getting much better, it’s still a bit technical when it goes wrong.  Reinstalling software doesn’t always fix things like it does in Windows.

A lot of things still require terminal commands.  However distributions like Arch or any other rolling release tend to do most things in GUIs and only occasionally do you need a terminal.

Until they find a true way to minimise this and make fixing issues much easier it will remain a fringe operating system.  Mind you how many people go hunting with RegEdit on Windows so it can be a pain equally at times.

Linux has the advantage of malware and viruses are virtually none existent due to rights management and if any bugs are found they are normally fixed pretty quickly.

So maybe in three to five years Linux may be where it should be then it may start to dominate.  We may even have Mir by then but I wouldn’t put money on it.  Funny thing is because it’s free a lot of people distrust it which is odd.  They figure if you are giving it away for free it must have something wrong with it.

Topic 2 - Microsoft is now getting involved with Linux.  What?

Well its pretty well documented that Microsoft now have their own Linux based Azure Sphere OS.  However to program anything for Azure Sphere you need a Windows installation and Visual Studio to do so.  Which is kind of counterproductive if you ask me.

Also they have a seat on the board of The Linux Foundation meaning they get a vote in the way that Linux progresses.  They have open sourced various patents to the OIN (Open Invention Network) but the only people who gain advantage with this are existing OIN members.

It’s easy to see why many don’t trust Microsoft being involved.  Many ditched Windows to be away from their incessant spying and fiddling.  Also they have not had the best things to say about Linux.  Admittedly this was primarily when Steve Ballmer was the CEO of the company and now that Satya Nadella has taken the reins it has changed it’s stance.

“Linux is a cancer” - Steve Ballmer (1 June 2001)

Ballmer admitted in 2016 he hated it then but he now loves Linux but he had been left Microsoft for 2 years by then.

Most Linux people who have been around for a bit also remember that Microsoft sued several Linux Distro providers due to patent usage so when they announced they liked Linux and would even defend it if necessary.  Many Linux users were sceptical.

Also their recent acquisition of GitHub has raised concerns as many of the Linux Open Source projects are based on there and with Microsoft in charge what sort of issues will this present.

While understandably sceptical about Microsoft being involved with Linux.  They will probably fund many things to improve the way things are done in Linux especially useful regarding things like drivers.  As they can throw millions at it and not bat an eyelid.

However it’s equally dangerous because this goes back to a Microsoft philosophy that makes many nervous.  The philosophy is Embrace, Enhance and Extinguish.  This is where they introduce themselves to a system.  Add and convert many programs to standards written by Microsoft, then extinguish by leaving such programs without update making users move to something else.

While it will be virtually impossible to extinguish Linux.  The fact that Azure Sphere can only have programs written using Visual Studio.  Microsoft are already starting on the what it calls the Enhance stage.

They think that Visual Studio has enhanced the way to write Linux software.  Many I am sure would disagree vehemently.  If enough Windows guys take it up then there could be trouble on the horizon.

Several people think Linux is already getting a bit bloated without Microsoft attempting to fill up your hard drive.

There is even a version of the Linux Subsystem for Windows available for Windows 10 should you feel you want it.  This allows you to run Linux binaries under Windows 10 using a wrapper to put them on your desktop instead of using a VM.

It’s a double edged sword as I see it.  They could help get drivers and support for applications due to funding the Linux Foundation but equally they could totally start clogging up the Linux system with proprietary software.

What do you think?

Topic 3 - Video Editing on Linux?

Recently a Youtuber by the name of EposVox (Adam Taylor) had a bit of a meltdown regarding trying to switch from Windows to Linux regarding video editing on his channel.

Now he was trying to use Davinci Resolve 15 as his primary video editor and I believe he was using Kubuntu to begin with.  Now EposVox has featured many videos on his channel regarding Linux and  certain aspects of it.

He was certainly no beginner.  However he found first he could not access his video footage from external drives as they were ExFAT.  Now Kubuntu does not supply them by default.  However you can install them using apt-get.

Then when he did files to Linux using USB, he discovered Davinci Resolve 15 Free Edition did not have the codecs to read the videos as they were in 4K H.264 format. So he had to install Davinci Resolve 15 Studio but to do so he had to transfer one of the keys from one of his Windows machines.

Now the program could read his videos but would regularly crash for no apparent reason due to video driver issues.  In frustration he eventually gave up.

He also tried it under Linux Mint 19 which did include the ExFAT drivers but once again Davinci Resolve 15 Studio would just crash randomly due to video driver issues.

This caused him to post his video rant.  Now many tried to defend Linux saying he didn’t know what he was doing.  This I find hard to believe.  He had championed Linux for a while so he was far from incompetent.

However it does seem when it comes to using 4K video under normal Linux conditions, problems do tend to occur.  This is because they have not really got true codec support from the manufacturers.

A lot of the drivers have probably been written by enthusiasts who just wanted to see if it could be done so they probably are not the best drivers available.

Since camera manufacturers such as RED and other makers of 4K or higher cameras work almost exclusively with Microsoft or Apple.  Linux is left out in the cold as it’s not paying them millions of dollars for drivers.

Most Linux content creators are running under 4K, normally 1080p is the limit.  Now I know the BBC use Linux for their editing but it has probably been specifically built for them and if they want the drivers they can afford to pay for them.

Until Linux gets competent 4K video codec support a lot of profession video editors will probably stick with the likes of Adobe Premiere Pro or Final Cut Pro X.

Kdenlive has improved vastly over the years also there is OpenShot and Lightworks but they all seem to be under optimised or missing features video editors want.

It’s not that Linux is bad at video editing.  Once again I think it is something that they will get in time but for now anyone using 4K camera footage will have not the greatest of time working in the Linux environment.

I could be wrong about 4K video being awkward under Linux but that seems to be the opinion out there currently.

I have had issues running Davinci Resolve in the past so I can understand it can be frustrating.  It is very finicky with it’s setup and is far from stable under Linux.  Works fine under Windows however.

Topic 4 - New Mac ? No Linux for you then...

Well it seems Apple have finally found a way to lock out Linux from  the new 2018 range of Apple Macs.  Due to the implementation of the current T2 security chip it has locked out Linux.

The current T2 chip has also caused issues regarding upgrading.  If you upgrade a new Mac yourself and don’t get an Apple registered service member to do it.  The likelihood is MacOS Mojave will not start.

The reason being that Apple have supplied software to their Apple registered engineers that allows them to reset the T2 security chip so it will start MacOS.  Without this you will just get a black screen if you do it yourself.

Well this same T2 security chip is now locking out Linux so it can’t boot.  Previously Linux got around Mac boot issues by using the Windows Production CA 2011 certificate.

Apparently New Macs block Windows 10 too until you enable it in the Boot Camp settings.  However Linux does not have that luxury.

So is this the end of Linux on new Mac machines or do you think Apple will give them access.  I can only imagine this would happen if Apple were paid a considerable amount of money.

If those who hack it decide to put their findings on the Internet so Linux can be booted.  Be prepared as Apple are notoriously famous for sending legal teams after people.

I’m sure the likes of Canonical, Red Hat and SUSE will eventually cough up some money but other smaller distributions may not be able to afford such.

Sad really and eventually they will find a way around it probably just bypassing the T2 security chip all together and making it think it sees a T2 chip that will let it past.

Anyway that’s enough waffle for this episode.  Hopefully next time I will have more to report on what I have actually been doing with Linux not just general news opinion.

Until next time... Take Care.