UdeRecife

Nice try, but you're making a point...

2

Right now I just think about me and how I'll use it. I'm eager to try this messaging app to have a way of being reachable by like-minded people.

To put it differently, I don't want to be a slave of others' choices. I know the network effect is real and that I'm powerless to break it. So I'll just change my attitude, and embrace this wave. Who knows what will happen? And in the meanwhile, I'll have fun using what to me seems right.

First time I read that, and it's brilliant! It describes perfectly what's happening.

If you came up with that on your own, congrats. If you read somewhere, thanks for sharing.

That's simply outrageous!!! As soon as I finish tinkering with my system, I'll prepare a proper reply...

On a more serious note though. Don't overlook the role of procrastination in the endless tinkering many put on their boxes. I'm speaking from experience.

It's worth mentioning that Arch wiki is the best place to go to solve that.

I've had a brother WiFi printer on the recent past and managed to get it going by... reading carefully the CUPS instructions on Arch wiki.

A month ago, my non-geek uncle had a similar difficulty with his wireless printer. I again got it going by pointing out where to look and what instructions to follow.

So, yes, printer problems on Arch stations are a real thing.

Thank you for taking prompt action. I've read about it some hours before, and defederation was the way to go.

I've watched this a while ago, but I stopped following Veritasium after that.

Note: Video link to Veritasium: A Story of YouTube Propaganda.

Don't quote me on this, but older shit looks better than new shit. It's less smelly also.

Oh, now I'm excited. Thank you for engaging.

You make a great point. Why be slave to a tool, right? If the box is just the way to get to what you really need to do, you aim at what you want to do and not the box. So, setting up Arch Linux, in that sense, is a bad investment. I'm ok with that.

Now let's think about it this way. Because I set up my box the hard way, whenever the box fails for some reason, I'm better equipped to find what's wrong with it. Since I lost the of fear of dirtying my hands to achieve what I need, I wear the mechanic jumper on and I go about doing what is need to get it going again. Setting the box, in this sense, was an investment in myself. I now have the knowledge. And we all know that from France is Bacon.

So both things can be true. You are right; I am right. So now the question is: why the cheap joke? And you've answered already in the first paragraph of your comment.

Anyway, thank you for bringing more food for our thought table. It has been a wonderful meal so far.

I read the arch elitists as a slur directed to the arch user. So in my arch-user brain, that became akin to a prejudiced label, like 'ageism' or 'ableism'. Is there a kind of 'archism'?

Yes, I had to put some work to have my computer running. But that was so long ago that I don't even remember when or how it was. So now that statistic is screwed. I don't think about my install 99% of the time (I do think about it when I topgrade it weekly).

But I do get it. This is supposed to be a joke, and an easy one. As my comment reveals, I'm not the target audience. If I was fuming, I would be Tom on that bottom picture. Maybe I woke up in a more philosophical mood and got myself carried away by my initial question. I don't know.

For the poster, I want to wish them a wonderful day. Thanks for the thought-provoking meme you shared.

Brief answer for those in a hurry:

Give yourself treats when writing. Condition yourself to feel that pleasure when you write. Find some passive inducing activity that gives you pleasure and associate it with writing.

Long answer for the details:

As a craft, there are many ways you can approach writing. But like any craft, you can only get better at it by doing it. Thinking about it won't get you there. So you're right. Write things down. Write them unfiltered. That's a start.

Now, like any other craft, you may start having more fun the craftier you get at it. And to get craftier you have to write. So here's my trick to kick start the process.

I like music. I like music a lot. Music is sweet. And like all sweet things, I can only take so much of it before it starts to become too much (dopamine depletion). So I decided I had to go for a diet. What if I only listen to music, and the music I really like, when I write?

That's what I have been doing. For more than a year now, I only listen to music when I write. Like a well trained pet, this has triggered a conditioned behavior. Now, whenever I feel like hearing music, I also feel an urge to write. Sometimes I hear a song playing somewhere, and I'm reminded of things I want to write.

Funny how this goes. As of now, I'm finding pleasure in writing qua writing. In a way, I feel I'm starting to ride this craft no longer needing those musical training wheels. But since I always have music at hand, I always feel safe. If I'm assigned a writing task that I'm not particularly fond of, I turn the music on and the task becomes a bliss.