It also means the OS is in total control of the things it’s running. This goes for running programs, shutting down, and crashing. The only crashes I have on my Linux are when I use up memory, and I’m still convinced that even though everything looks seized up, if I left it for hours or days it would probably end up resolving itself. I’ve had some cases where the OS saw the program wasn’t going in a good direction fast enough and killed it.

Maintained, a bit slow on the updating sometimes, as I mentioned. But a big factor for going with Ubuntu was if you’re looking at software out in the wild, chances are they’ll have either an Ubuntu version or something that will work with it. I’m not a fan of compiling stuff (although maybe with more Linux exposure that will change too).

In hindsight that’s probably not a great reason, after all it’s why Microsoft dominated the field for so long.

Being supportive of Ubuntu seems to be a minority, but I picked it over others simply because it felt more like what I wanted from the Debian lines. And I haven’t had any major issues at all. The main project I’ve got ahead of me is to remove Snap, as I see that’s a problem, mainly due to updates being so far behind (plus I’m pretty sure it’s a resource hog, I can see it there in Btop all the time). I’ve had several apps that I originally used Snap (I mean, it’s right there, why not) to find the version is old and missing newer features. So I just find the Apt or deb version, or even AppImage, and I’m back running. The OS itself is solid, and I so, so love just booting up and going within seconds, as well as shutting down right away. Not the classic Windows “hang”.

But I get that some people run into incompatibilities sometimes with hardware, so you do have to look around and find what works best for you. An example of mine on that was an old MacBook I had that simply was stuck since the OS isn’t supported anymore. So I put Kubuntu on it (since it needed a light OS), and it works fine for what it is.

I can’t wait until we do find some place which has some type of life not connected to us (I think the probability is high), and we get to fight out the Red/Green Mars arguments in Robinson’s Mars trilogy.

Based on calculations, not observations. And we know a lot is going on on the surface ice, even far more than I had realized. GEO GIRL on YouTube has a couple of great videos (one made with Geosociety’s channel) on the Europa Clipper mission and what it’s measuring and looking for. Until that info becomes available, we’re doing more speculation than anything else. And uh, life finds a way.

Also, how they’re accomplishing that mission, including the planned orbits and other aspects, is incredible.

Copying an old Waterfox logo. They really are going downhill.

I’m… good with this.

That’s assuming Copilot could form a coherent report to send back to them.

I’ll be glad to give more info. I’m not sure where to find the logs to tell you what VLC is doing. See my other comment on the comparison of a browser - I want it to use VLC as if I was browsing websites where it just loads into the existing window.

I’m trying to get any new video I click on to play in the existing instance of VLC after running a first video. Not in a new instance. If VLC is open no other video will ever use that instance. It’s like if you load a new webpage in a browser but have to either close the existing browser window first or load into a new tab or window, and I find it difficult to believe that’s an accepted behavior.

It’s “Build Trigger Warning”, aka experimental. It will likely break everything.

It’s weird to group Mint with Arch. I see Mint as the best intro for a Windows user, hardly similar to Arch.

I use Ubuntu btw. I don’t care what anyone thinks, it’s working great and that’s all I wanted from an OS (yeah, looking at you Microsoft).

That’s one way to tell time on the internet. The other way was while gaming and looking at the rise and drop of online players.

The protomolecule was out there anyway, just a matter of when. Same plot as in Alien(s), it’s almost like this is what corporations do.

Great, they went crazy with the find and replace and redacted all the math and physics work that went into figuring out the Epstein Fusion Drive. Now we’ll never get off this rock.

I admit I opened it larger, and it hit me. Duh.

Dawkins’ book “Climbing Mount Improbable” is a great and easy read to introduce the idea of making something complex and seemingly designed for its purpose a much more probable thing to happen if broken into small changes over huge amounts of time. And it’s like 30 years old, so probably outdated with more and better evidence now.

There is an old Youtube video by cdk007 (that’s still up!) that tackles a related fallacy, where finding a watch on the beach implies a watchmaker because nothing complex can evolve. He created a simulation using watch parts and evolutionary rules to show complexity does arise with the right conditions and enough time.

“Intelligent design”

Oh, I don’t think so.

Is that phrase even used anymore, or did it run its course of insanity and die off?

“Fraction of a dot”

It’s true of a lot of things. If you compare it to woodworking or auto repair, you don’t learn much by just doing random cuts or undoing and reattaching a part. Having a purpose helps the understanding and retention of that knowledge. And the opposite is true too - a skill or knowledge can fade if not used regularly. I hate going into old code, or for that matter working on part of a car I haven’t messed with for a while. I have to relearn and remember what I knew before. Sometimes it comes back fast, sometimes I have to retravel the road of looking it up.