Thank god I’m safe! And I will be dead and gone before it happens here. It’s going to be decades before 5G is implemented where I live. Hell, 4G is spotty and unreliable even yet today. Even 3G was terrible.

It still happens more than it should. It took me 4 tries to get the nVidia driver to take on my “gaming” laptop with Fedora 40, (it wouldn’t accept the public keys for some reason). And I had to wait for some updates that took 2 weeks to show up. But, the onboard Intel chipset ran Nouveau just fine with no waiting and tinkering. I think people are still having some issues with nVidea and Wayland yet. I know I still have some minor ghosting issues with a couple of AppImages I really need to use that would prefer straight X11 over X-Wayland.

Now that didn’t bother me because I’ve been using various distros since buying my first boxed set CDs with RedHat 5 from Walmart of all places for $25US. (I still suffer from PTSD thanks to rpm hell). But I can see how a stumbling block like that can turn newcomers to Linux distros off.

Yep. A traditional forum ages and grows old. And as they get older and older, it becomes harder to draw new members because of the clique of the core membership. I’ve seen a few traditional forums die that death over the years.

And some forums, and I belong to several, the members are literally dying from old age. We are all mostly old and retired. And we lose members every year due to death. Several times a year there is an obituary post for some long time member.

Oh don’t worry, states are already working on mileage taxes for EVs. A few even already have them in place.

It’s kind of like needing the proper units for the scale you need to work at.

So does Slack. But while they are 2 of the foundational distros, neither is the first go to choice of the average user. Neither distro caters to the mainstream user. If you are choosing either of those two distros, you are definitely old school and/or are looking for a solution to problem that is perhaps more of an edge case.

“Hit the road Jack”

Hey, I replace LibreOffice on my Linux installs every time with OnlyOffice. I don’t really need a full up office suite anymore. And I find OnlyOffice is a bit simpler and easier to use. But it’s not for everybody.

Plus, it keeps me away from trusting Google Docs…

Oh you sweet innocent. Major distros like Ubuntu and RedHat already are peddling open source AI for their enterprise customers.

Debian Pro+ is here and has been for a while…

Yeah, the signs are starting to manifest. You will embrace the penguin at some point to get what you desire.

Pfffttt, Microsoft has been there, done this, and got a whole closet full of tee shirts for stuff like this many times over the years. In the end the users don’t care and can’t stop it. And they are, by in large, too lazy to change to something else to completely avoid it.

It hasn’t ever affected the bottom line enough to matter to them. They will just pull this bug feature and wait for a better day. Or perhaps they will figure out a way to introduce it piecemeal to disguise it better.

If you want to search for AI solutions to problems because forums are either too slow to answer or you get no answer at all. I’ve been using Phind for my Linux issues with Fedora, (a recent switch and I’m not all that familiar with it yet), and it’s an AI that is supposed to be aimed at programmers and Devs.

So far, for my meager needs, it’s worked VERY well. So between Phind and RTFM, I haven’t found an issue I can’t work through.

I would suggest you get hired by the IRS and start rewriting all their ancient code to build in and allow every deduction rule and that it’s applied correctly every time so everyone can use it.

The tax laws are so large and so complex and the code running all this stuff is so old and now locked in because they didn’t keep up with updating their software as they went along. I’m amazed they got this far. Oh, and like you, I can’t use it either. But that’s why I have an accountant.

Yep. Look at it this way, those $100,000+ machining centers that make nearly everything you use and own, are running on basically 486 chips. And they only transitioned from the 386’s because the dies wore out and the chip manufacturers said they weren’t going to remake them. It caused a noticeable amount of angst in manufacturing when the news got out.

Ask your doctor homeopath doctor

While I don’t think the way Texas has the regulations setup is a good idea, one has to look more at the ‘whole picture’ and do the math. Is the low cost periods low enough that when you get ‘gouged’ by the spikes, what was the total average cost? If the spikes are taken as a average over time, then maybe it works out in the consumer’s favor or at worst break even, then it might be worth it. Or maybe it doesn’t But I honestly don’t know. I don’t have the numbers in front of me to do the math, I’m a 1000+ miles away from Texas.

Edit to add: I don’t know just how much extra electricity Texas will need to buy, but I would assume they will be buying a noticeable amount. And the cost of electricity is VERY expensive in the spot market. It’s why my co-op is doing major upgrades to the hydro-electric dam. To increase the efficiency and reduce the need to buy expensive spot market power.

And without a good way to store the excess power generated, solar and wind aren’t very good for peak loads. You can’t merely flip a switch and spool up more power than a solar panel or wind generator can produce. Clouds reduce efficiency, insufficient or too much winds shut down wind generators. And despite having more alternative generation than everyone’s hero - California, it still not enough to carry the whole load. Consumers are raising demand far faster than enough infrastructure can be built out to supply that demand. So for peak loads, natural gas generators are used because they can be turned on and off quickly as needed. This adds excess cost.

The installation of storage batteries farms is fantastic. But it will take time and it will add cost to consumers electric bill.

And despite some tankie’s beliefs, nothing is free - it all costs something. I’m a member of a tiny rural electric co-op. The co-op needs to make a profit to afford maintenance and upgrades to our tiny grid. Our power is generated by a hydro-electric dam and my rates have gone up this year to to cover the costs of some major maintenance on the dam and the addition of 3 new linemen to keep the electricity flowing to my heat pump that the co-op incentivizes and highly encourages.

Thanks for the explanation!

OK, I’m confused.

I have seen 2 different articles that claim WinAmp is NOt going to be open sourced. At least in the common sense. But rather kind - of - sort - of - but - not - really.

Here is a https://www.zdnet.com/home-and-office/home-entertainment/winamp-is-not-going-open-source-heres-what-it-is-doing-and-why/ ZDNET article about it.

I haven’t been to Winnipeg in a long time, since before COVID. But I do get to Fort Francis when I go to the 'Falls. I miss the days when we could just pass the border without the hassle it’s become today. I used to have family up in Roseau years ago. Might still be some shirttail outlaws up there.

My Daughter works for a non-profit too. She does research on not only public charging for vehicles, but also HVAC systems for homes across the US. I have also had to swim in the ocean of paperwork of state and federal grants. Few survive the experience for long. May God 'ha mercy on your soul!

That’s great for you, I’m kind of jealous. The Prius is a very good vehicle, either as hybrid or ICE.