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Jul. 13th, 2024 03:35 amEvery now and then I look into doing hardware upgrades on my home server, then feature-creep sets in, the price climbs, and then I think "nah I'm good for now". If I have to, I will. I'm also not above getting used or leftover hardware. How else can I get a full-size server motherboard that already has a pair of 16-core CPUs installed and 64GB of RAM for less than $500? It's also how I got the HBA card that's in use. For now, the i3 chip isn't getting constantly overworked so I guess it will stay in the meantime. And by the time the i3 isn't enough, more powerful offerings will be available anyway.
More experimentation with Linux Mint: I figured I'd try out a few basic things. First, I let it run updates. Okay, those went through without needing to use Terminal. Then I ran the torrent program, to see how that runs. Okay, it started up without a fight. I found a torrent of an episode of anime, downloaded that. That works too. I play the anime file. It runs smoothly. Alright, this is a good sign. I'm not going to be able to run PC games on this but that's fine, that's what the Windows 11 computer is for.
Getting back to my point, is that I was able to install, update, and run basic tasks in Mint without needing to type commands. This is the furthest yet. But I think that run is going to come to an end soon. The audio works when using the regular analog output, but if I want to use the optical-out, it doesn't work at all. I'm sure there are ways of making it work, and I'm sure those ways involve a lot of typing in Terminal.
Other encounters I've had with Linux:
-FreeNAS/TrueNAS. I've had to poke at this a few times in Terminal to get it to work on the initial install but once I did, it ran entirely headless since. Newer versions were able to install without such poking.
-Raspberry Pi. I'll forgive needing to use Terminal on this, on account of what Raspberry Pi was meant for, and how dynamic the hardware add-ons can be.
-Android. Yes, Android operating systems are Linux-based. The reason nobody needs to use Terminal on these is because Google put billions of dollars into the development of the software with the intention of making even more billions in profits, so they have a vested interest in having something that will work without the end-users constantly needing to dick with it.
The Windows-flavored version of Ubuntu I put on started off strong but started nagging me about some of the add-ons, so I ended up replacing that with Zorin. Which still won't run 3DCustomGirl. I hear good things about Debian (what RasPiOS is based on), and I'm also willing to give Fedora a try. If I was feeling frisky, I could also try installing Arch Linux, although that looks to be too deep in the trenches for me.
This week I tried out a restaurant called Ninja Ramen. It was the nerdiest place I've been to in a long time, with Naruto, DBZ, One Piece, and Demon Slayer decorations all over, and a TV showing episodes of Shaman King. Not gonna lie, 25 years ago I'd be at this place all the time. But I also learned a long time ago that anime decorations don't always mean good food. Was the food good? Well, yeah. Have I had better Japanese food? Well, yeah. Would I go out of my way for this place? Probably not. If I'm in that area and hungry, there's a good chance I'm just going to go to Quaker Steak which is open later anyway.
Something I learned about getting service in restaurants is that when I know what I want when I get there and I order it all at once, I tend to get faster and better service. Meanwhile, three men at the table next to me were seated before me but I was getting my appetizers while they were still looking at the menu, and not for lack of attention from waitstaff. If the server asks if you need a minute to decide and you say yes, you'll definitely get that minute. You'll get 15 of those minutes and you'll wish you didn't.
More experimentation with Linux Mint: I figured I'd try out a few basic things. First, I let it run updates. Okay, those went through without needing to use Terminal. Then I ran the torrent program, to see how that runs. Okay, it started up without a fight. I found a torrent of an episode of anime, downloaded that. That works too. I play the anime file. It runs smoothly. Alright, this is a good sign. I'm not going to be able to run PC games on this but that's fine, that's what the Windows 11 computer is for.
Getting back to my point, is that I was able to install, update, and run basic tasks in Mint without needing to type commands. This is the furthest yet. But I think that run is going to come to an end soon. The audio works when using the regular analog output, but if I want to use the optical-out, it doesn't work at all. I'm sure there are ways of making it work, and I'm sure those ways involve a lot of typing in Terminal.
Other encounters I've had with Linux:
-FreeNAS/TrueNAS. I've had to poke at this a few times in Terminal to get it to work on the initial install but once I did, it ran entirely headless since. Newer versions were able to install without such poking.
-Raspberry Pi. I'll forgive needing to use Terminal on this, on account of what Raspberry Pi was meant for, and how dynamic the hardware add-ons can be.
-Android. Yes, Android operating systems are Linux-based. The reason nobody needs to use Terminal on these is because Google put billions of dollars into the development of the software with the intention of making even more billions in profits, so they have a vested interest in having something that will work without the end-users constantly needing to dick with it.
The Windows-flavored version of Ubuntu I put on started off strong but started nagging me about some of the add-ons, so I ended up replacing that with Zorin. Which still won't run 3DCustomGirl. I hear good things about Debian (what RasPiOS is based on), and I'm also willing to give Fedora a try. If I was feeling frisky, I could also try installing Arch Linux, although that looks to be too deep in the trenches for me.
This week I tried out a restaurant called Ninja Ramen. It was the nerdiest place I've been to in a long time, with Naruto, DBZ, One Piece, and Demon Slayer decorations all over, and a TV showing episodes of Shaman King. Not gonna lie, 25 years ago I'd be at this place all the time. But I also learned a long time ago that anime decorations don't always mean good food. Was the food good? Well, yeah. Have I had better Japanese food? Well, yeah. Would I go out of my way for this place? Probably not. If I'm in that area and hungry, there's a good chance I'm just going to go to Quaker Steak which is open later anyway.
Something I learned about getting service in restaurants is that when I know what I want when I get there and I order it all at once, I tend to get faster and better service. Meanwhile, three men at the table next to me were seated before me but I was getting my appetizers while they were still looking at the menu, and not for lack of attention from waitstaff. If the server asks if you need a minute to decide and you say yes, you'll definitely get that minute. You'll get 15 of those minutes and you'll wish you didn't.
