this post was submitted on 24 Aug 2023
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Linux

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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

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Screenshot of QEMU VM showing an ASCII Gentoo Logo + system info

I followed Mental Outlaw's 2019 guide and followed the official handbook to get up-to-date instructions and tailored instructions for my system, the process took about 4 hours however I did go out for a nice walk while my kernel was compiling. Overall I enjoyed the process and learnt a lot about the Linux kernel while doing it.

I'm planning on installing it to my hardware soon, this was to get a feel for the process in a non-destructive way.

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Might as well call linux the most polluting OS. It props up old inefficient systems with high TPW and takes longer to complete tasks. Whereas microsoft and apple makes sure their users are on the latest efficient hw. Maybe a bit offset by the ewaste but who cares, Apple and MS are out savingy the earth.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

To show how moronic your claim was to term it as "most environmentally harmful OS" on one single factor(cpu time).

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

And I dont believe in the efficiency advantages or selfcompiled software vs. immense compiling power needed especially when rolling. On ESR maybe you got me. I really believe code thats made for one platform can be faster. But then you have MacOS which is slower than Arch on their own damn M1 hardware.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

I think its better to have older machines that use more energy, than to have new ones that need resources, are worse repairable and all.

Could you explain "TPW" and "hw" in your comment? I read it as hardware, and having an OS force you to buy new (of their own) hardware is not sustainable at all. Its basically planned obsolescense.

Proove me wrong, but cant you securely boot a BIOS on any PC using their old TPM and a security key? I am in the procees of installing Heads on my T430, which is pretty old, but I think this will be very secure even without the new TPM standard.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I am in agreement with most if not all the above points. Didn't agree with terming a distro the worst of anything based on a single metric.

~~ TPW~~ CPU TDP to use it as a rough efficiency metric. Probably not very accurate but roughly representative. HW meant hardware.

Maybe in many cases repurposing hardware makes sense but based on the source and cost of electricity, hw process generation it might not even be feasible to run compared to modern hw. Might be better to recycle them responsibly than keep those running.

In end I guess you realise there are many factors to consider to determine something good, bad.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Of course, hats why I said bad for the environment. If it was not rolling, maybe. But if you do updates at least twice a week it will consume lots or energy. If you use old hardware or not I think its independend from that.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Even assuming all other factors remain same sure it uses more power but by how much? Best case by how much do you expect the increase to be ? 5-10% of their daily electricity consumption ?

And when you consider the power source, hw efficiency and so on theres no way to assess what the environmental effect an OS has.

Also you are assuming behavior of the person remains the same when using a precompiled packages v. compiling their own. I've installed many sw just to try for a few minutes and remove just to try various options. If it takes hours to compile I'd be very picky on what I install.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Agree on the last. I also try a lot more packages. But its still rolling, in practice how many hours does your PC compile a week? Would be curious.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Oh I really hope this is satire.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Must be.

People just don't care to put \s at the end anymore it seems. And when argued against they (we in this case) will be told that they don't have any sense of humor.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I wont argue as such. Unless its a divisive topic where theres no place for ambiguity, /s just takes away from the sarcasm.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

/s just takes away from the sarcasm.

Yeah. It kinda does. Worst thing is, if you cleverly construct your joke some people will not get it and then some chocolate pudding will hit the air mover. But on the other hand \s somewhat ruins the good joke.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Thats part of the fun with edgy sarcasm.

Don't know if its a joke but i saw a moronic comment and to highlight the ridiculousness decided to be a bigger moron.