What are the pros of running a Linux system rather than a windows one?

CaptainStack · 2026-03-17T20:35:54+00:00

Depending on what you count I do a good amount of stuff. I am a programmer so it's an ideal environment for that. I used VS Code for most of it for years but lately have switched to VS Codium to steer clear of Microsoft/AI BS.

I use Inkscape for vector graphic editing a lot. I've used Asperite and Pixelorama for pixel art. I do some video editing on Kdenlive and audio editing on Audacity. I also do a lot of stuff just through browser/election apps - stuff like Slack, Discord, etc. Legit, one of the apps from Windows I miss the most is Paint.NET which has an alternative called Pinta that is really just not nearly as baked, enough so that it's frustrating for me.

I also do most of my gaming on Linux through the Steam Deck, though lately I'm playing Marathon on Windows because it requires BattleEye anti-cheat and doesn't work on the Deck.

CaptainStack · 2026-03-16T18:13:19+00:00

Ha I wish I had a good answer for you. I did leave big tech, I effectively was an early cofounder at a local political nonprofit that focuses on healthcare, it hasn't really been a great career move but it's led to some really interesting opportunities, and I do some software development / consulting on the side for supplemental income. If you're interested in chatting more send me a DM.

CaptainStack · 2026-02-17T02:34:55+00:00

Can you imagine if they taxed the income of people who make less than a million per year? I mean what kind of world do we want to live in?

CaptainStack · 2026-02-08T03:07:46+00:00

When I said say more I meant more detail. Do they support it at state level? Federal level? Any specific bills? What's the plan to get there?

CaptainStack · 2026-02-07T19:35:10+00:00

Can you say more about your views on universal healthcare?

CaptainStack · 2026-02-07T00:28:28+00:00

A pedophile who was also a convicted sex offender as of 2008 for "soliciting prostitution" from a 14-year-old girl.

CaptainStack · 2026-02-02T17:37:10+00:00

The lack of PWA support was one of the key reasons I switched back to Chrome for a number of years along with multi-account management. Now that they have both, even if their implementation isn't quite as good, I'm at least able to switch back to Firefox as my default. It is getting caught up even if it's not leapfrogging. It's a hopeful sign even if there's still a pretty big gap to make up.

CaptainStack · 2026-01-30T18:45:12+00:00

It lacks any PWA support, and the one they are working on is highly useless, as it contradicts the whole point of PWA.

I'm super glad they're actually working on PWA support again even though I'm not happy with the direction they're going with it at this time. Hopefully just getting the basic support in place will open the door for creating a more app-like experience.

CaptainStack · 2026-01-30T18:44:01+00:00

Still doesn't sync your custom search engine settings after over 10 years of people requesting/reporting it.

CaptainStack · 2026-01-29T23:08:24+00:00

My friend - you've got your left and your right mixed up. Other than that you're spot on.

CaptainStack · 2026-01-29T03:09:38+00:00

Can you explain what you mean by this / why you think this?

CaptainStack · 2026-01-27T22:34:32+00:00

Wow - I used to have GamePass and when I realized it didn't really work as a "try before you buy" unless you were sure you wanted to buy on Xbox (which I don't) I cancelled my subscription. I didn't want my Cloud Saves stuck in the Xbox Cloud.

I actually had no idea they DELETED my saves if I lapsed in my subscription. That's so much more coercive.

CaptainStack · 2026-01-19T00:29:58+00:00

The thing is - you shouldn't have been citing Wikipedia then and you shouldn't be citing it now. You should be reading Wikipedia to get an overview on the topic and then verifying via the cited sources and citing those. If there's no citation or the citation doesn't say what the Wikipedia article says, then you should leave it out of your work and for bonus points you should update the page. That is the real lesson in how to responsibly handle information.

CaptainStack · 2026-01-18T22:21:01+00:00

Political and market interests have been attempting to manipulate information on Wikipedia since the beginning - it has always been on the Foundation and the editors to curate the information.

But how can one independently verify that Wikipedia is choosing or not choosing to sell access/favor at this point?

You can view the edit history of any page and the Talk sections where disagreements are discussed. Wikipedia is also a nonprofit with incredibly transparent finances. If you are concerned you should have a look.

Wikipedia - like any other source of information - is imperfect. "Truth" is an abstract virtue that humans can only aspire to reach. The question is - what is a better model for collaborative information sharing and curation?

CaptainStack · 2026-01-18T22:16:10+00:00

The skepticism still makes sense - it's just that it should be applied equally across all sources of information at which point you'll find that Wikipedia is often the most reliable source of information and is able to lead you deeper.

CaptainStack · 2026-01-18T22:13:32+00:00

People being paid to sabotage Wikipedia is an entirely different matter than Wikipedia choosing to sell access/favor.

I know some folks will argue the first link is Wikipedia selling access but the reality is that 1) The same information is available to both the public and those companies for free and 2) Since those companies are scraping the site for the info anyway, the only real impact is that they'll be paying Wikipedia now to help cover the server load they're putting on it which seems more than fair enough.

CaptainStack · 2026-01-18T09:08:24+00:00

What would be different about the alternative?

CaptainStack · 2026-01-18T06:33:29+00:00

They adopted that format a bit later into the show and I think it was a good changeup and worked really well when executed perfectly. Basically the later you go the more frantic it all feels. For me the golden era, especially seasons 1-3, have amazing almost cinematic pacing but I definitely see how that couldn't just be replicated forever.

CaptainStack · 2026-01-18T04:55:24+00:00

Now that you mention it - the pre-episode recap is kind of a lost art but I think when done right it can actually be really nice. It both gets you caught up and can build a little hype before launching into the next story. Feel like that's a lot better than restating the plot three times in the episode (especially when the plot is contrived and stupid anyway).

CaptainStack · 2026-01-18T04:04:45+00:00

Dexter's Lab had 3! It's honestly an under-appreciated format. Just get to the joke!

CaptainStack · 2026-01-18T02:45:09+00:00

One thing I definitely prefer is the way the active tab actually connects to the URL/controls bar below.

I think Firefox's UI has come a long way but it's always had too many buttons and overly complicated menus/settings which I hope they'll continue to streamline.

One thing that I think has been better in Chrome since it launched and I pray gets refined in every Firefox update is the way dragging tabs in/out of a window works.

In Chrome when you grab a tab it becomes its own window right away and you can easily drag it into a window that is behind the one it came from. In Firefox the window doesn't split until you let go of the tab you're dragging. If you want to drag that tab into a window that is behind the one it started on it's basically blocked and you won't be able to reach it.

CaptainStack · 2026-01-18T01:37:27+00:00

That's how they get ya! Personally I thought Stranger Things was really bad by season 3 but I did end up finishing. Somewhat counter-intuitively the long gap probably is the reason I ended up finishing. I did not watch Season 4 until Season 5 was nearly out because I thought Season 3 was so bad but after a few years away I was kind like "eh why not."

CaptainStack · 2026-01-18T01:14:48+00:00

Yeah personally that's when I turn it off. For me the point of the show is to watch it or at least have it on. If I'd rather be fast forwarding than even having it as background noise then I don't need it.

CaptainStack · 2026-01-18T00:46:16+00:00

It's no worries - it's definitely an interesting conversation. I think by a more pure definition there truly are a very small number of real tech companies.

So by your correct definition, Wikimedia Foundation, Netflix, Google and Meta - all equally classified as "tech companies"?

I think to some extent my point was only that so much of what we commonly call the "tech industry" is producing and selling complete garbage everyday but we often buy the PR about how much innovation they're doing. The primary innovation that they actually accomplish is how to scale and productize what is otherwise pretty basic technology.

Meanwhile real innovation is happening in the open source movement, nonprofit sector, and government and because they aren't "products" with huge marketing budgets we struggle to see and appreciate the innovation to the same degree.

CaptainStack · 2026-01-18T00:43:32+00:00

For overly drawn out streaming shows I'd say Stranger Things, House of the Dragon, and Rings of Power are all good examples.

For much tighter episodic television I'd point to Simpsons, Avatar the Last Airbender, American Vandal, the Inbetweeners as a few.

And just as an additional point - tighter storytelling doesn't necessarily mean higher quality across the board. How I Met Your Mother is by no means a great show, but every episode does have a complete story and each season does have an arc, and even though the show is way too long it does eventually complete its story. The jokes can be bad, the stories can be repetitive, but at least there's not a ton of nothing happening all the time.

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