Sunday Somewhat Funday

https://mmn.ca/~/English/Sunday%20Somewhat%20Funday/

New #blogpost

Decided to write about how the meaning of devices considerd to be cheap and affordable has changed over time, I don't like it.

This is day 56 of #100DaysToOffload

https://joelchrono.xyz/blog/budget-friendly-tech-isn't-what-it-used-to-be

CC: @aperalesf

#Blogging #Ramble

Using older OSes and older programs to avoid slop

This started out as a draft around the start of this month, but when writing an "expanded" version of my Mastodon post I began to reiterate the same points so I said, fuck it, might as well just split my draft into two separate posts.

This is one of them. The other one will be up in a few moments… or hours? I don't know, heh.

Eternal Sloptember

I've been following the Open Slopware document per Drew DeVault's post on rsync. If you aren't aware of this, it keeps track of which FOSS programs have began to accept or even embrace AI-generated code.

I don't like that it's not just Vim, KeePassXC, and rsync, but also ImageMagick, VLC, mpv, Jellyfin, curl, Godot, Calibre, Gitea, GitLab, Bluesky, PeerTube, Mastodon, Lemmy, Lutris, etc.

tmux, plan9port, Heroic Games Launcher, LLVM, VirtualBox, maybe Nix.

The worst for me were whole operating systems accepting AI-generated commits, such as the Linux kernel, FreeBSD, GNU Hurd, ReactOS, and even FreeDOS (even programs for 80s/90s hardware isn't safe).

To explain why this is such a big deal, a lot of people (including me) are skeptical of AI, and want to avoid it however possible, but this makes it harder because it feels like it's being shoved down my throat. Use whatever analogy you want. I've considered low background steel, AI "veganism", even asbestos. But the biggest is that modern AI is a product of capitalism, pushed without ethical consideration by larger companies, and I want to avoid that shit.

Older operating systems

Okay, so my first proposal. I think the core system of every OS should be free of AI. I'm mostly referring to kernel and userspace applications, but I've also seen Lubuntu and Nobara, unfortunately, include AI-generated wallpapers, or projects like KOReader use AI-generated images for releases.

I've been looking into this a bit, and I think older operating systems are a good option, but some may disagree (I'll get into this near the end of this section), and much like internet privacy, it can be a compromise depending on how far back you wanna go. Maybe an OS predating the 2025 winter holidays when Claude Code exploded, November 2022 when ChatGPT was released, October 2021 when GitHub Copilot was first released, or May 2020 when GPT-3 was first published.

Fortunately, older versions of, say, Debian, have a "frozen in time" archive of packages for each older version used. This may also apply to derivatives like Devuan and Ubuntu, as well as Alpine, CentOS, Fedora, Slackware, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, and, with a bit of extra work (for finding the original sources?), NetBSD

But, unfortunately, it's often been claimed that running older software is a security risk waiting to happen.

On one hand, I agree, and one should always exercise caution when running old software (a tool like Lynis could be one in your security arsenal), and the older you go, the more screwed you are by possible RCEs.

On another hand, I also disagree. I personally believe most security issues are a result of PEBKAC and really involve how well the administrator knows their system. Arch Linux has a very lengthy page on security practices that apply to OSes. Others include Slackware and Gentoo. And for me, a big part of security is the attack surface, which is drastically reduced if you don't have 200 services running and stick to minimal software (imo modern web browsers are an overengineered security nightmare).

Older applications

Second of all, I can hoard older versions of software thanks to sites that still host them. Not all source code will compile, but there's a very high chance a Windows binary will be available that can run under WINE (though native performance is only expected on x86 architectures, where you'd have to use an emulator like qemu or box86 otherwise). If I'm unhappy about modern Anki, for instance, I can still run 2.0.52 if I really wanted to. If I'm unhappy about Blender, they too still provide older versions.

I've been able to do this as on as far back as my laptop, Omoikane (2004), running Slackware 13.37 (2011), after compiling WINE 2.14 (2017), though it relies on the program to be compiled without SSE2 due to the older CPU.

This also goes both ways! If I want new software, I can set up a container (Distrobox? uhh… Flatpak? shudders), chroot, virtual machine, or emulator. I've been thinking SSH forwarding could make the programs appear natively on the system.

Didn't have much bandwith for a proper rambled today. So I stepped away, took a breath and then scribble a poem about my age. It's a first draft, and I already have ideas where to go with it, but for now I say we all just enjoy it as it is. A newborn poem is a rare moment.

#poetry #blogger #ramble

http://thecasualramble.com/2026/04/12/man-thirty-two/

Ten years after starting this website, I submitted the manuscript for my first ever poetry collection. Whatever happens, I will be working publishing the collection with a special gift for my Patreon subscribers. Read all about it! #creativewriting #poetry #ramble #firststeps

http://thecasualramble.com/2026/04/08/manuscript-mania/

Daaaaanng it.

I've done it again. In an attempt to loosen up on the "but I don't have that notebook with me" perfectionism, I've scattered my song writing / song revising systems too far and wide.
I've allowed myself to spread out over a couple apps, lots of texting to myself, only a couple(!) notebooks, and at worst, some index cards (which are paperclipped into bundles and kept all together in a Ziplock. i do draw the line at random scraps of paper.)
Now, I had a good line the other day. And it paired well with another line I'd had floating around.
And I know I wrote it down. Like, solid 98% taking "being interrupted so brain ticked task as complete based on intention and initiation" into consideration. But I really do tend to remember that I've actually written things down — because it happens so rarely!!

And I can't find it. I've looked everywhere. If past logical me agrees with present logical me, we would have added it to the old line somewhere instead of creating a new random orphaned idea. But that older line already exists in a dozen locations due to revisions and digital vs paper… OR what if practicality and this feck perfuctionism! thing won out, and I just got it out my brain before I forgot it. Full Columbo with a Picasso sketch on the napkin routine… in terms of act first, think later.

Oh well. I was managing to beat some lyrics out myself but I wanted to track down that damn line and now… Well, tonight the white noise sounds like ME just continuously singing one long note. Oh wait, there's some overtones in there. I can't tell you the pitch of your vacuum cleaner, but I can detect an entire choir from the frequencies of a box fan.

I'll say it again: UPNOTE NEEDS A WEB VERSION!!!

I still wish dishonest "ai artists" to not follow me tbqh. Oh well, I'll go to bed.

The Trail Blazers just had their best win of the season. I haven't cheered that loudly for a big game in years. Exhilaration doesn't even begin to describe it.

Read more about why this was their best win of the season.

#ramble #sportswriting #nba #basketball #portlandtrailblazers

http://thecasualramble.com/2026/04/01/blazers-best-win-season/

Someone start up the Nick Cave record, Donovan Clingan is the Portland Trail Blazers center I have been waiting for.

#portlandtrailblazers #sportswriting #nba #basketball #ramble

http://thecasualramble.com/2026/03/31/donovan-clingan/

An Ode to Workarounds and Permacomputing

Okay this is a pretty obvious post given what I blog about, but I'm feeling really good right now so I want to share that positivity with as much people as I can.

Given the state of the current political climate, it's nice that "slices of heaven" still exist in the world, and we should do our best to support them. I'm talking libraries, small websites, libre software projects (including the small ones made as toys), etc.

But this post is about permacomputing(?), or at least my understanding of the concept, because I think it's fucking awesome, and there's a lot of interlap with the things I discuss here.

I love that many solutions work just as long as you shift your mindset.

I love that I can use a 22 year old laptop for some modern activities. Even though it doesn't support most major modern Linux distributions (and the ones supported have some problems), I can stick with an older version that works best, or use an operating system like OpenBSD and NetBSD that still has built-in support, and I'll still be happy.

It sucks that my 22 year old laptop can't run modern programs, but I can still pull out older versions of LibreOffice, Blender, Anki, etc, or even find modern programs that still compile under C, or even Rust, which has a target for the computer's lack of SSE2, and I'll still be happy.

It sucks my 22 year old laptop can't play Minecraft all that well (if at all), but there's projects like ClassiCube that port Minecraft Classic to fucking, like, everything, even my laptop, and I'll still be happy.

It sucks that I can't play modern games on a tiny computer like a Pi 4, but it's still awesome that I can emulate thousands of games thanks to the hard work done by the people who document and emulate the original console and dump the original ROMs (huge thanks to Near), and I'll still be happy.

It sucks that I can't run older versions of Linux applications easily, but it's awesome that I can just download a Windows binary of the older version and run it under WINE, which matches my silly Windows 95 and Windows 98 XFCE skins or even emulate MS-DOS programs via DOSBOX's many new forks (DOSBOX-Staging, DOSBOX-X), PCem/86Box, etc.

It also sucks that Vim is embracing AI, and no matter where you stand, AI has a ton of issues. But nothing's stopping me from compiling an older version like Vim 8.x (even if the website made it harder to find compared to two years ago). Others, such as Drew DeVault, took matters into their own hands, forking the older version to create "Vim Classic".

It sucks that the odd Wikipedia article has AI-written trash, but it's awesome that I have my own pre-ChatGPT copy of Wikipedia that I can host on my own computer via Kiwix and even search like regular Wikipedia, and as a bonus, Wikipedia now bans AI generations outright.

It sucks that the modern web is fucking garbage, but it's amazing that the small web exists, whether it be on HTTP, Gemini, Gopher, etc.

It sucks that search engines are shit now, but it's amazing that people have proposed solutions to break our ingrained habits. It's cool I can set Wikipedia as my default search engine or even utilize search engines with a whitelist of "trusted" websites (like Mojeek's "Focus") or use different search engines altogether.

It sucks that systemd is complying with the upcoming age verification laws, but it's fucking awesome that there still exist many systems out there that don't use systemd at all, including the *BSDs, 9front, etc. (Except Artix Linux. Fuck Artix).

It sucks that I can't run some modern applications on my computer running OpenBSD, but that doesn't stop me from emulating, say, a Linux environment via vmm or QEMU, and using SSH forwarding or VNC for graphical environments. (I considered emulating a newer Linux on my 22 year old computer even though it'd require a lot of patience to even boot it up, lol.)

It sucks that modern Android phones come with a lot of fucking bloatware, but it's fucking cool that I can disable them thanks to a project like Universal Android Debloater that has a user-curated list of apps and descriptions explaining what they might do, which should help extend the lifespan of the phone by saving power and battery.

It sucks that a ton of modern games require a powerful computer, but it's fucking awesome that I can make my own, for something like the Game Boy, thanks to the dev tools and guides that many have worked on for the console, and any device with a screen should be able to play it. Or that many of the indie games I love still run on my OptiPlex 7010 with an Intel HD 2500, even though on Linux I need to add PROTON_USE_WINED3D=1 as an argument for every Proton game. Or those indie games may even run on my Pi thanks to Box86. Or with some tinkering I could turn my phone into an off-brand Steam Deck by installing a Linux desktop on my phone via Termux, then compile Box86 and WINE myself, start an X11/VNC session, and play the games.

For me, it feels like every time there's a hurdle, there's like 50 different solutions around it. That doesn't make the "sucks" things any less valid, and I think we should still fight against them; I just wanted to be grateful for the amazing things we have now.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I want to chill and spend my time learning Common Lisp and FORTH, and maybe develop some game clones with some friends.

God, it's been a while since I've wrote a blog post like this.