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Joined 3 years ago
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Cake day: January 17th, 2022

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  • I’d clarify that the shear customizability of Linux is optional.

    Take a SteamDeck with SteamOS versus a RPi with e.g Debian.

    If you “just” play with the SteamDeck and you don’t tinker, well, it “just works”. In most, even though not all, normal situations, e.g plugging a screen, pairing a BT headphone, mouse, keyboard, etc it is solid. It has no problem even while using a compatibility layer like Proton for games themselves made for Windows. It even enable some tinkering thanks to its immutable OS and let the player switch to desktop mode. Not everything works but my personal experience since it’s been out has been pretty much flawless.

    Now, take a RPi, with just as stable hardware, with Debian, even stable, and put on it some IoT device, make some weird modifications for it, try a bunch of stuff, remove package, tinker more, chances are it will still work. Tinker more, make stranger modifications to the point it becomes unstable. Is it Linux itself? I’d argue it’s not. I’d argue that instead because we CAN tinker we sometimes do then forget that it’s not the same context as something expected to run without hiccup because it’s been limited to basically the same verified usage.

    So… IMHO Linux is even better than it is, we just shouldn’t confuse weird (and important) tinkering with how it can be actually used day to day.



  • Thanks a lot for taking the time to explain.

    I did notice CTF on the description so I imagine “escaping” it is “harder” than with containers. I recently participated to SplinterCon which included a “block-a-thon” (cf day 2 of https://splintercon.net/brussels/ ) to try to escape a limited environment, approximately simulating the limited Internet access of some political regime. It might be interesting in that context too.

    Could also be interesting then to distinguish which defaults are changed compared to Docker ones or examples for which nsjail is currently preferred.


  • No and to be honest without a clear comparison with the advantages AND disadvantages with the most popular solutions, e.g containers with implementations like Docker or Podman, I don’t think I ever will.

    Obviously it’s nice to have alternatives which I bet can be interesting in specific use cases but without a way to understand in which specific situations it would be worth investing to learn the tooling, principles, etc then I would, naively, stay with the status quo.

    TL;DR: any comparison vs Docker?


  • I love how you just assumed that I’m Chinese

    I bet most people reading “I live in Canada, my family moved here back when I was still in school. I’d like to move to China one day” would assume the same, especially “back” as I understood, but my English isn’t perfect, return FROM China. It has nothing to do with “race”, culture, politics or economy.

    Anyway, this makes it even more interesting, have you already been to China at all then? Worked there? Because I did but I don’t want to make assumptions so again feel free to clarify.

    PS: also want to make it clear, I didn’t say nor assumed that you were Chinese, but of Chinese heritage, a bit different.



  • Also interesting to note “The focus on mature nodes also positions Chinese companies to dominate markets where advanced nodes are not necessary, such as in automotive and industrial applications.” which is indeed very viable. Namely they focus on “old” processors used in “simpler” situations. The machinery from ASML to make such chips is actually purchasable (unlike the latest ones). China is already positioned on the lower end of the market.

    Still, even though going from the production of older chips is a step to higher end one, it is not the same, especially when machinery to do so can’t be purchased.




  • utopiah@lemmy.mltoLinux@lemmy.mlThis $149 RISC-V Tablet Runs Ubuntu 24.04
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    13 days ago

    Linux is not replacing Android tablets any time soon for casual use by non-techies.

    Meanwhile PineTab 2 is used nearly daily here, at home and while traveling, by non-techies.

    I’m not saying anybody is fine with a Linux tablet… but if the applications (not “apps”) one actually uses function properly on it, no reason that it would gather dust.

    PS: tinkered with a Banana Pi BPI-F3 with SpacemiT K1 8 core RISC-V and for that architecture specifically I would wait just a bit more, also why I didn’t get a PineTab V RISC.



  • Well I’m not. I have a different setup due to working in VR. I did use for myself and others a RPi as a desktop for few tools and as long as you stick within what’s acceptable for its performance, it’s really nice, such a compact setup. The RPi I use at home and at work are headless servers for e.g DLNA, IoT, backups.

    If I didn’t work in XR or play (BG3, EldenRing, etc) then I imagine I would find a RPi 4 sufficient for most of my tasks.




  • utopiah@lemmy.mltoLinux@lemmy.mlHow to quit VIM?
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    14 days ago

    The trick is do the opposite, namely bring vim everywhere, e.g using Tridactyl you can bring some behaviors to the browser and, in this very textarea from lemmy, if I press Ctrl+i I get gvim, when I exit it, the content is back in the textarea and I can reply. Vim everywhere.


  • All Raspberry Pis (except even the Pico) are ARM devices so… yes I’ve been using Linux on ARM for years. It’s been smooth sailing both as desktop or 24/7 home servers except for few very rare packages that aren’t build for that architecture and then themselves have dependencies making it hard but overall as time passes and there are ARM processors everywhere it’s only getting easier. I have not tried on Apple Silicon but here also support only seems to get better.

    PS: also been using the PineTab 2 nearly daily and less frequently PinePhone and PinePhone Pro, all on ARM, also only Linux, all good.


  • Honestly a very imperfect alternatives but that’s been sufficient for me for years is… NextCloud of documents.

    There are few dozen documents I need regardless of the device, e.g national ID, billing template, but the vast VAST majority of my files I can get on my desktop… which is why I replied to you in depth rather than actually doing it. I even wrote some software for a “broader” view on resuming across devices including offline, namely https://git.benetou.fr/utopiah/offline-octopus as a network of NodeJS HTTP servers but … same, that’s more for the intellectual curiosity than a pragmatic need. So yes explore with VMs if you prefer but I’d argue remain pragmatic, i.e what you genuinely do need versus an “idealized” system that you don’t actually use yet makes your workflow and setup more complex and less secure.


  • Regardless of what technical solution you decide to rely on, e.g borgbackup, Synchting or rsync, the biggest question is “what” do you actually need. You indeed do not need system files, you probably also applications (which can fetch back anyway) so what left is actually data. You might want to then save your ~ directory but that might still conflict with some things, e.g ~/.bashrc or ~/.local so instead you might want to start with individual applications, e.g Blender, and see where it implicitly or you explicitly save the .blend files and all their dependency.

    How I would do it :

    • over the course of a day, write down each application I’m using, probably a dozen at most (excluding CLI tools)
    • identify for each where data is stored and possibly simplify that, e.g all my Blender files in a single directory with subdirectory
    • using whatever solution I have chosen, synchronize those directories
    • test on the other device while being on the same network (should be much faster and with a change of fixing problems)

    then I would iterate over time. If I were to often have to move and can’t really iterate, I would make the entire ~ directory available even though it’s overkill, and only pick from it on a per needed basis. I would also insure to exclude some directories that could be large, maybe ~/Downloads

    PS: I’d also explore Nix for the system and applications side of things but honestly only AFTER taking care of what’s actually unique to you, i.e data.


  • AFAICT that’s correct for WebBluetooth indeed, as it’s only implemented by Chromium (and thus all browsers relying on it) but for but for WebUSB https://wicg.github.io/webusb/ it’s still being discussed at the W3C level so even though not standards (which I don’t think W3C even produce, only API specifications, e.g HTML isn’t a standard whereas Bluetooth is) thus allowing others to possibly implement it.

    To clarify Firefox is my main browser, but (sadly) for those very specific cases I’m relying on Chromium (WebXR on standalone XR devices, even now Wolvic switching to Chromium as a backend).

    It’s an important point as by doing this Google is pushing for it’s own set of technologies and is pushing for it’s own engine which comes with a lot of business (namely ads) related “feature” e.g Manifest v3 that aren’t good for privacy.

    That is also interesting to consider on “why” a browser keeps on evolving, i.e having the most “advanced” browsers does give an edge and pushes competition away.


  • Some of the new features most people aren’t aware of us that I used recently :

    • WebXR, make a Web page immersive and work in the browser of VR/AR headsets, e.g Meta Quest, Lynx XR1, Apple Vision Pro, etc
    • WebBlueTooth, connect to a BT device, e.g a Lego controller in order to move actuator, data from sensors, etc
    • WebUSB, connect a device and update its firmware, e.g SmartWatch, mechanical keyboard, etc
    • GamePad API, use a gamepad or joystick to play from a browser window
    • Realms in JavaScript for “better” sandboxing, it’s a relatively new feature of the language so the engine must be updated

    So… sure none of that really helps to read a 2D Web page (like this one on Lemmy) but they pretty much all help to achieve better cross-platform support. By using the Web rather than native to connect to hardware then it is instantly delivered without having any OS specific driver to build and install. Practically speaking it does make the browser increasingly complex but IMHO it is worth it.

    PS: I probably also used some modern CSS so there also the engine (which is ridiculously complex by the way) has to be updated too.