Josh Braun

Welcome to the #Linux emotional support hotline.

If you have an immense amount of work to do, but have just discovered a new tiling window manager you'd like to try, please press 1.

If you've just lost a day deciding whether to try a new app or further customize the one you're already using, please press 2…

[Add your own favorites.]

Feb 29, 2024 at 8:17pmWeb
Show threadDerpi  Feb 29, 2024
@josh 3 for both.
Show threadConatusPrincipleFeb 29, 2024
@josh Relatable
Show threadMike WoodsFeb 29, 2024
@josh If yoy have ever thought "surely I won't need to use the shell to do x", press 3.
Show threadAndy K SFeb 29, 2024
@josh If package updates have upset the beautiful, fragile lattice of bash scripts that undergirds your self-image as an enlightened power user...
Show threadJosh BraunFeb 29, 2024
@akstuhl Ooh, I love this one (as a concept — I rather hate it when it happens to me 😂 ).
Show threadAndy K SFeb 29, 2024
@josh currently living with a big spray of warning messages every time I use one of the (formerly nice, elegant) little utilities I've tacked onto gedit, thanks to a zenity update
Show threadJosh BraunFeb 29, 2024
@akstuhl 😂 FWIW, I'm a big fan of Kate these days.
Show threadfedward Feb 29, 2024
@josh This question on Ask Metafilter is a great example: https://ask.metafilter.com/378570/Help-me-improve-my-Linux-development-environment
Help me improve my Linux development environment?

I want to boot into my laptop, use various Linux distributions with them already customized to the packages I want and need, things like terminal and stuff configured, etc. Sometimes I want to...

Show threadJosh BraunFeb 29, 2024
@fedward Wow, that was a delightful rabbit hole. 🙂
Show threadRobert W. GehlFeb 29, 2024

@josh that me

I try to save my distro-hopping for weekends, but... sometimes I gotta take a break, install a new OS, and destroy everything to "improve" my daily life

Show threadJosh BraunFeb 29, 2024
@rwg Totally! After years of this, I've finally narrowed my life down to a couple standby distros — the one I put a new machines and the one I use to salvage aging hardware. But I'm sure if the kids were a bit older and I were on a few less committees, I'd be back to my old habits. 😂
Show threadRobert W. GehlFeb 29, 2024
@josh Yeah, me too. I tend to go to Manjaro KDE for work stuff and Xubuntu for old hardware and just leave it at that. But the itch to try new stuff is hard to resist, sometimes.
Show threadJosh BraunFeb 29, 2024

@rwg Yup! Manjaro and MX Linux for me. As my post suggests, though, I love a good tiling window manager. But I'm past the age where I enjoy manually installing/configuring all the system utilities that full DEs give you for free. So, of course, I just found out about Regolith and I feel like I can only resist trying it for so long, lol.

https://regolith-desktop.com/

Regolith Desktop Environment

Productivity focused Ubuntu derivative and desktop environment

Show threadRobert W. GehlFeb 29, 2024

@josh dammit josh you're just tossing the drugs on the table in front of me

there goes the evening! 😆

Show threadJosh BraunFeb 29, 2024

@rwg Lol. Tell me tomorrow whether you bricked your Manjaro install so I can avoid the peril.

Or send me your config files when you have it working. 😂

Show threadJosh BraunMar 1, 2024
@rwg I went to the AUR to install the Regolith desktop and had a moment of clarity when I saw that it was a version behind and the maintainer had posted a screed about how the new version was a complete rework that was going to take time to package. I thought, "Wait, I'm about to waste time installing this only to waste twice as much time *re*configuring it when v2 is available?" It felt good to close the browser tab and get on with my life.
Show threadairikMar 1, 2024
@josh big project to do… better get multi monitors working right …
Show threadJosh BraunMar 1, 2024
@airik Make sure to optimize your setup entirely for the monitor(s) on your desk, so that the first time you hook up to a wall display to give a presentation all the dimensions will be wrong and your desktop will look to audiences like a cubist painting falling into a gravity well, while you frantically type xrandr commands into a terminal window that’s cut off by the edge of the screen.
Show threadRob RicciMar 1, 2024
@josh "If you have spent more time today configuring a tool than using that tool..."
Show threadRob RicciMar 1, 2024
@josh "if you have rebuilt your kernel to fix a device issue before discovering the device was not plugged in correctly, press..."
Show threadjahinzeeMar 1, 2024
@josh If you've recently distrohopped, and are currently being afflicted by FOMO or "~"sickness from your previous distro, press 7.
Show threadPrinceAlarmingMar 3, 2024

@josh

If your Play On Linux doesn't support a favorite Windows application, try replacing with a FOSS Linux application. Press 6

Show threadJeremyFeb 28, 2025
@josh If you've spent hours trying to find a command line way to perform a task for which there's a simple gui interface, press 3.