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Joined 8 months ago
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Cake day: June 4th, 2025

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  • Grandma doesn’t need to “learn” Linux

    Most of the older generation compute almost entirely through a web browser. They often struggle with the amount of notifications / solicitations that come up in a a Windows OS, as they can have trouble discerning between what is real and what is a scam - becoming fundamentally distrustful of everything as a result.

    Through my repair shop, I’ve transitioned plenty of older generation folks to Linux Mint with minimal friction.

    Main area where that can get a bit more complicated is for those who are clinging to an older piece of software they’re unwilling to let go of.




  • I picked up an old Dell server some time ago and wound up finding firmware that made the RAID card passthrough so that TrueNAS could have direct access to disks for ZFS

    That server was all SATA based so I’m not sure what options you’ll have, but it’s worth looking into.

    Ultimately, my thinking is that just because there’s something “better” out there doesn’t mean you shouldn’t work with what you have.




  • That’s quite a headline they’ve got there!

    After provisioning a PC with a Windows 11, version 24H2 monthly cumulative update released on or after July 2025 [KB5062553], various apps such as StartMenuExperiencehost, Search, SystemSettings, Taskbar or Explorer might experience difficulties.

    This will occur for the following: First time user logon after a cumulative update was applied. All user logons to a non-persistent OS installation such as a virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) or equivalent as application packages must be installed each logon in such scenarios.

    If you are wondering, provisioning essentially is the way admins configure devices as they automatically deploy various settings and policies on a client PC. So while the issue is in office PCs, considering a huge number of enterprise PCs are Windows, this is probably a very big problem.


  • Or perhaps it could be something other than malice?

    This person is putting up with a misbehavior they don’t have to live with. They’re presenting the perception that it’s due to the nature of the operating system.

    My Toyota engine dies when I idle, therefore all Toyotas and fundamentally flawed.

    Flawed logic, no? And yet, when it comes to tech, plenty of folks apply the same type of thought pattern.

    You’re right that one would think the issue is as it seems on the surface. Computers are actually a bit more complicated than that.

    One fail mode of memory is the occasional bit flip silently corrupting data in the background. As time goes on and new data is written to a disk, things can get weirder and weirder over time.

    We don’t know if Windows and Linux are sharing a physical disk (I hope for their sake they aren’t) and we don’t know how old the Linux deployment is, so it’s possible it hasn’t had the opportunity to get progressively messed up enough yet.

    Another key variable is that the Linux environment might not be interacting with every single piece of hardware, or that the structure of those interactions could result in symptoms manifesting differently or not at all.

    I’ve had situations where a MacBook’s keyboard and trackpad were completely functional in Linux and Windows, but absolutely dysfunctional in any MacOS based environment. The fix? Replacement trackpad cable.

    At the end of the day, the situation they’re describing is not common for the OS and indicates something is very wrong.

    There’s plenty to complain about with Windows, but if this were a typical experience people would not be putting up with it.

    A device with those symptoms coming through my shop is statistically likely to be leaving with replaced parts, a component level repair, or at the very least a complete OS and Driver reinstallation after passing extensive diagnostic testing and behavioral isolation.












  • “Peaceful protest” was a joke friend, I was primarily responding to:

    The solution to violence has literally never been “yeah, everyone should have a gun”.

    In the examples that I listed, guns were literally the solution to violence.

    Not that I agree with their statement, but I think an adjacent point to the top of this comment thread - and related to your point - is that while there may be plenty of guns, they’re predominantly possessed by a group of people who agree with the country’s current political direction.

    Many of those who don’t agree with this direction are also those who don’t have guns and have put in a great deal of effort trying to restrict others’ access to them.

    I’m definitely one who believes that things have not gotten “bad enough”, but it does seem like things could be headed that way. If we get to a true Gestapo level secret police rounding up and exterminating everyone they decide is “Antifa”, the opposition is going to have a hell of a time defending themselves with their current numbers.

    We’re at a fragile turning point where further political violence, especially in any organized capacity, is likely to be weaponized to excuse extreme tyranny.