RahulDec 20
nixCraft 🐧
By age 40, a Linux user stops trying to install Arch on a toaster just to prove they can. They finally settle on Debian Stable or Mint because they realize they no longer have the "mental bandwidth" to spend 6 hours configuring stuff or fix broken systems just to check their email or watch Netflix. 😊
Dec 20 at 3:25pmWeb
Show threadnixCraft 🐧Dec 20
i used to live on the edge. now i just want a desktop environment that doesn't explode when i need it the most 😅
Show threadChad McCulloughDec 20
@nixCraft Yeah, agreed. 30+ years ago, when I started using Linux, I loved compiling the kernel, software, etc., but now I just want it to work. I mean, compiling is still fun for me but I don't want to have to do it with everything.
Show threadWayne DixonDec 20
@nixCraft this is why I only install betas on devices that I can tolerate bugs and possible issues. The number of devices that I’m willing to do that on seems to keep going down.
Show threadFaraiweDec 20
@nixCraft ::cries:: this.
Show threadTrezzer (aka Helvedeshunden)Dec 20
@nixCraft By age 50, immutable seems like the future.
Show threadBoxOfSnooDec 20
@trezzer @nixCraft nah, sometimes that just gives you more things to fight with.
Show threadTrezzer (aka Helvedeshunden)Dec 20
@boxofsnoo @nixCraft It can. But mostly if you want to nerd around. :)
Show threadMichele ADec 20

@trezzer

Almost 50, slided back to Linux after years on Mac, then OpenSuse, then Nixos (immutable-ish), mostly impermanent, and Qubes. Also toying with BSDs on a spare machine.

It's good to see lots of them having become a viable everyday OS, each with its own strenghts.

@nixCraft

Show threadfellmoon 🏴Dec 20
@nixCraft this is why I literally have a "backup laptop wirh just default ubuntu"... It has RJ45 and can print.
Show threadThomas ThybergDec 20
@nixCraft Things got better when I stopped recompiling the kernel.
Show threaddoragasuDec 20
@nixCraft Been using Arch as daily driver for more than a decade and without intention to change. And I have crossed the 40 a handful years ago!
Show threadSalix 🇨🇿 🇺🇦 🇪🇺 🇮🇱 🇹🇼Dec 20
@nixCraft #openSUSE Tumbleweed works fine for me in this aspect. :-) Every build is tested etc., so I'm fine wiht it. :-)
Show threadNatanox 🇺🇦🇵🇸Dec 20

@Salix @nixCraft Also using Tumbleweed for that reason, it's fine. The rollback feature is really useful; friends of mine still immediately want to do a deep dive into the system if something breaks, meanwhile I just do a rollback. 😅

Unfortunately distros like Mint are way too far behind feature-wise. In general Mint is just great, always love to recommend it to people.

Show threadLouisDec 21
Been there, done that but I ended on endeavourOS because debian compiling packages that are several decades late is a no go for me
Show threadF4GRX SébastienDec 21
@nixCraft this
Show threadMarcyDec 20
@nixCraft I DONT WANT TO GET OLD 😭
Show threadHuKDec 20

install gentoo

@AurraKo
@nixCraft

Show threadMarcyDec 20
@HuK @nixCraft i have a cpu with 4 threads no thanks
Show threadJoshDec 21
@AurraKo Back in my day, we installed Gentoo with a 1-thread Pentium 60!
Show threadPeter HilgenfeldDec 21
@AurraKo @HuK @nixCraft
I think you might find you'll see some benefits from getting old in that case.
Show threadHuKDec 27

@AurraKo

I installed i.e. compiled FreeCAD from FreeBSD ports on a Core2Duo laptop with a spinningHD. It took several days.

GUI was not normie responsive though, and the menus were quite empty. Lost interest.

Show threadLionel OrryDec 20
@HuK @AurraKo @nixCraft then install funtoo. Then LFS (Linux From Scratch). Then, well, yeah, Debian.
Show threadAndreas, DJ3EI, he/himDec 21

If you are suicidal, seek professional help.

@AurraKo @nixCraft

Show threadInterestingMooDec 20
@nixCraft the 40yr old Arch Linux user just uses archinstall 😉
Show threadPauloDec 20
@nixCraft I'm 39, looking forward to that
Show threadstfnDec 20
@nixCraft ha, I reached that point at ~35!
Show threadEdDec 20
@stfn @nixCraft I past that a few decades ago
Show threadPaula BabbicolaDec 20
@nixCraft ok I’m gonna be a stereotype here and say that if you did it right once you never need to do it again (until you get a different enough computer). I’ve even moved my installation 1:1 to a different laptop (directly cloning the disk) to just not have to change anything about it, it was a different model but same manufacturer and line. Stayed with the same install for 5 years until I had to change job (therefore can’t clone the disk, also my new job requires MacBook). I’m too old to change distros 😂. I’m 32 though (turning 33 on the 25th!).
Show threadOlapDec 20
@nixCraft EndeavousOS to the rescue!
Show threadThe ol' tealeg 🐡Dec 20
@nixCraft at 48 I switched back to #OpenBSD to get away from the influx of new enthusiasm in the Linux community - I feel like an old man and there’s kids on my grass busily reinventing wheels by hammering tower blocks into hexagons. ;-)
Show threadaCiRePDec 20
@tealeg @nixCraft best way to show your age 🙏 ❤️
Show threadStarkRGDec 20
@nixCraft I must be an early bloomer, in that case, as I reached that point around 32. I was never particularly adventurous as it was. I still occasionally hop distros, but never because I want a challenge. That said, I am currently on an arch derivative because I wanted to see if Wayland and rolling releases were all they're cracked up to be, and because I wanted to see if I could get rid of the 150-ish millisecond delay in VR (I could not, probably nvidia-related).
Show threadStefan 🧝Dec 20

@nixCraft

If a toaster can do that, it already knows too much

Show threadDragonDec 20
@inwis @nixCraft someone will have had it running doom
Show threadsqualouJenkinsDec 20
@nixCraft used gentoo for a few years... :) arch is so easy and stable and no 'dist releases' nonsense I stick to it at nearly 50.
Show threadFaraiweDec 20

@nixCraft Spouse. Kids. Car. House. Dog. Enshittified appliances konking out. Grocery runs. Screaming at screen every time fascism blooms harder. Sobbing into pillow.

All those demand time and energy.

The neverending compilation can go to hell.

Show threadSusan CalvinDec 20
@nixCraft in their 50s they move back to Debian Testing because they have the experience to report bugs
Show threadDaniel Django  (Akkoma)Dec 20
@nixCraft I just keep on using my working arch installs though. No need to install a new system.
Show threadVrtxdDec 20
@nixCraft I installed Debian 13 (stable) to my primary laptop this week and installed most of the apps I use. I have had to Magic SysRq REISUB once so far. I guess I'm still missing something important or I just keep running into new issues every time I manage to fix older ones. Oh well. Computers are never truly stable anyway.
Show threadGoatsLiveDec 20
@nixCraft Yup, me too. Mint for ages here...
Show threadVeviserDec 20
@nixCraft Surely the literal toaster (that they're still installing some distro on once they hit 40, and not specifically Arch as I choose to read this 🤭) doesn't have enough RAM or a fast enough processor to support a full desktop distro 🤔
Show threadRené FouquetDec 20
@nixCraft Happy 45 year old Ubuntu user here 😉
Show threadDaniel QuinnDec 20

@nixCraft I really don't get this joke. Arch isn't Gentoo. You install it, and it just works. You never need to do a system upgrade 'cause it's on a rolling release, and its packages are always modern with the features you want.

Meanwhile Debian is perpetually antiquated, forcing creative hacks to get recent versions, and requires a tricky system upgrade every year or so just to remain relevant.

Show threadSnep Dec 21

@danielquinn @nixCraft

> You never need to do a system upgrade

More like, there's constant system upgrades, that's how it was when I was an active Arch user. With every single-package-update or installation came a whole slew of other package upgrades.

And btw, the tricky system upgrade on Debian is changing the codename (e.g. from bookworm to trixie) in the sources.list files and doing apt update + apt dist-upgrade. For those living on the edge, Debian Sid works a lot more closely to Arch :)

Show threadMJ Luna no FireplumeDec 20
@nixCraft for some reason I'm a 40yo Linux user at the age of 24 😂
Show threadJoe WDec 21
@autoramjluna @nixCraft Don't worry. I have been on rusty (and stale, with the at the time new laptop, drivers were an issue) since I was about... 21.
"There are three flavours of Debian: Rusty, Stale and Broken" (got this from a fortune at login once)
Show threadOddDec 20
@nixCraft I switched to a macbook as my main driver for these reasons. But now I really want Linux back on desktop. Don’t trust anything anymore, but at least with Linux on my laptop, I won’t suddenly wake up with some forced AI having taken over my whole OS without my consent. 3 years until 50 now. Hope I’ll have the bandwidth to put Linux on my macbook by then :P
Show threadCosmic ExcursionistDec 20
@nixCraft NixOS has been a good middle ground for me. The reproducability has afforded me more stability and I waste much less time on breakages. Reinstalls with all my configs on new machines are automated and easy, if something breaks rollbacks are as simple as rebooting and I can mix stable and unstable packages on a system. There was an initial time sink when I was still learning the language but now using it is easy.
Show threadLambdaDec 21
@cosmicexcursionist @nixCraft I'm a debian user on my desktop workstation and arch on my older laptop, but I'm planning on switching to nixos for my workstation in the immediate future because the idea of functionally programming the system exactly as you want it and then having it as an immutable output is just way too appealing
Show threadFerretDec 20
@nixCraft 🐧 I switched to Arch for everything specifically cuz Debian was giving me troubles. 🤷
Show threadehushagenDec 20
@nixCraft If I never type the words “make menuconfig” again, I will die happy 🤣
Show threadPierre de BuylDec 20
@nixCraft #Debian FTW
Show threadPatrick SchmitzDec 20
@nixCraft that sounds familiar. It is nice to tinker with stuff, but in the end I want something that just works.
Show threadvobodaDec 20

@nixCraft You run Debian but still get to say 'btw I used Arch'

Smart.

Show threadFoxx EdelweissDec 20
@nixCraft 😮‍💨 elementaryOS. period.
Show threadTipiak75  🍜Dec 20
@nixCraft Right. Especially just to watch netflix on the toaster.
Show threadrdfrkianDec 20
@nixCraft truth.
Show threadDustinDec 20
@nixCraft