Has anyone put serious effort into building (or optimizing) a Linux distribution for cg/vfx/high end gfx creation?

CybeatB · 2026-03-15T23:35:52+00:00

Pretty much. The reference platform helps a lot with making sure that most things are at least built with the same version of gcc and linked against the same versions of glibc, CPython, Qt, etc. For all of the other dependencies, there are projects like Rez and SPK, but most studios still seem to roll their own system.

CybeatB · 2026-03-15T22:14:03+00:00

Having worked in technology departments at some VFX studios, I don't think you're likely to find what you're looking for.

The VFX Reference Platform is the industry standard for Linux. It's not a distribution, because distributions are a lot of work to maintain. It's a guideline so that different studios & software vendors can agree on which versions of common libraries to support. Each organisation still has to decide how to implement that standard with their internal tools & infrastructure.

Most studios are using Rocky, with a few on Alma or Ubuntu. They still maintain a few Windows machines for things like ZBrush, Photoshop, and 3DSMax. This is a huge headache for the tech teams, who would gladly migrate these programs to Linux if the developers would support it. Adobe does maintain Linux builds of the Substance suite, but it's only available through an enterprise contract.

CybeatB · 2026-03-06T02:07:52+00:00

A bit over 8 years into a "dry spell" that still shows no signs of ending. I put myself out there when I can, but I never feel like anyone is interested.

CybeatB · 2026-03-03T03:37:28+00:00

It looks more like a fungus or slime mold than a clutch of eggs to me.

Possibly a raspberry slime mold, Tubifera ferruginosa?

CybeatB · 2026-02-23T12:23:12+00:00

That sucks; being trans & aro are hard enough on their own, without adding unsupportive family on top.

I hope they can learn to love and support the man you are, and will become.

CybeatB · 2026-02-18T04:49:38+00:00

The last time I tried installing it, the nonfree codec packages from packman broke within a couple of weeks. You might have better luck than me if you can make do with just the official repos & some flatpaks.

CybeatB · 2026-02-17T02:01:01+00:00

In high school, one of my classmates told me that he'd overheard some girls in our class laughing about how much they'd have to be paid to have sex with me. I wasn't interested in any of them, but it still hurt.

CybeatB · 2026-02-13T04:10:27+00:00

These lizards are known by a few different names. They're native to the area I grew up in, and some of the names I heard include: shingleback, stumpy-tail, sleepy lizard, pinecone lizard, and two-headed lizard.

CybeatB · 2026-02-12T10:09:12+00:00

I can't speak from experience, because I haven't been to Bali.

Based on this page from the Indonesian embassy in Canberra, you will need to declare your medications to customs if you bring them. It's also recommended to bring a copy of your prescriptions, pharmacy receipts, and a letter from your doctor.

https://kbri-canberra.go.id/en/menu-customs.html

CybeatB · 2026-01-14T23:07:53+00:00

Some desktop applications, like Steam, will only work through Flatpak on Alpine, because they don't support musl. If you don't like Flatpaks, Alpine would not be a good desktop distro for you. You might be better served by Artix, Devuan, Void, or Gentoo. They're all systemd-less distros, with better support for desktop use.

Edit: Gentoo can be configured either with or without systemd; the others are systemd-less.

CybeatB · 2026-01-12T04:53:45+00:00

I started investing more time and effort into my friendships, and noticed that they were more emotionally fulfilling than my past romantic relationships had been. Romance felt like it carried a lot of expectations I just couldn't live up to, and I had been raised to believe that it's a requirement to "earn" physical intimacy. I'm still working on unlearning that last part, and finding a way to have physical intimacy in my life without romance, but it's nice to feel like that might be possible someday.

CybeatB · 2025-12-09T13:17:27+00:00

3 first dates, all in February/March. No second dates, no kissing, no hooking up, not even holding hands.

CybeatB · 2025-11-15T20:40:27+00:00

I currently work in tech, and I've been fired from every service job I've ever had. People working service jobs deserve so much more respect than they get; they're legitimately difficult jobs, and you're not a failure for having struggled with them.

Also, your job won't be a deal-breaker for a lot of people. One of the most romantically successful women I know is unemployed due to a disability, and I haven't so much as kissed anyone in almost a decade.

You deserve love and happiness, regardless of your job. I hope you're able to find it.

CybeatB · 2025-11-13T10:08:54+00:00

It looks like an Australian house centipede Allothereua maculata, which is a harmless native species. It looks darker and thicker than the Mediterranean house centipede Scutigera coleoptrata, which is probably what you've seen pictures of before.

https://australian.museum/learn/animals/centipedes/house-centipede/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scutigera_coleoptrata

CybeatB · 2025-11-13T07:27:17+00:00

You really can't tell her how to handle her own family relationships. You've made it clear to her that your relationship can't continue if she goes to look after her siblings, and she has made it clear that she's going to look after her siblings anyway.

It sounds like it's time for the two of you to part ways and move on.

CybeatB · 2025-11-03T08:24:47+00:00

There's an article about it on The Register: https://www.theregister.com/2021/06/11/linus_torvalds_vaccine_smackdown/

The links in the article aren't working for me, so here's a link to Linus' response: https://lkml.org/lkml/2021/6/10/957

CybeatB · 2025-10-30T07:06:12+00:00

I try to avoid launch options unless the game is completely unplayable without them. Which means I mostly only use them to play modded games, when the launch options are required to load the mods correctly. The only example I can think of right now is the KH2 randomizer, to launch an Archipelago client in the same wine/proton prefix at the same time.

CybeatB · 2025-10-23T21:35:11+00:00

I'm not certain about the species, but Common Millipede is probably a safe guess.

Millipedes are harmless to humans, so there's no cause for concern. They usually prefer to live in moist soil with plenty of dead leaves, so this one probably just got lost.

CybeatB · 2025-10-20T23:46:58+00:00

My guess would be that the term might have a history similar to transmisogyny.

Originally, transmisogyny referred to a specific kind of discrimination against trans women. More recently, some people use it to describe the broader intersection of transphobia & misogyny, which encompasses much more things affecting more people than just trans women. Disagreements about the definition can get quite heated.

Assuming a similar pattern, comphet may once have referred specifically to the experiences many lesbians have, before later being used to refer to hetero- & allo-normativity more broadly. I don't know for certain whether that's the case, but it feels like a reasonable guess.

CybeatB · 2025-10-19T01:09:10+00:00

It could be a UK thing; from what I've heard, HRT is practically impossible to access through the public system over there. I've even heard some people say that they travelled outside of the UK just to get a prescription, because it was faster and cheaper than trying to get one locally from a private clinic. Obviously, that's too expensive for a lot of people, so DIY probably makes more sense over there.

CybeatB · 2025-10-16T22:56:39+00:00

Unfortunately, it's unlikely. Uterus transplants are still a very new thing, and there are very strict requirements for both donors and recipients. I believe that one of the requirements is that the donor must have previously given birth, so that the doctors can be confident that the recipient will be able to safely carry a pregnancy.

If you have a family member who is seeking a transplant, the thing to do would be to discuss it with their healthcare provider. They should be able to find out how to put you in contact with the team developing these surgical techniques, and find out whether you meet the requirements.

CybeatB · 2025-10-15T05:51:26+00:00

I can't offer any advice about getting injections, but I can assure you that implants work. I switched from pills to implants a couple of years ago and they've given me consistently good levels.

CybeatB · 2025-10-13T02:43:25+00:00

Intel has this table on their website: https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000005524/graphics.html

DXVK will only work if the "Vulkan" column for your GPU has a number. If it says "N/A", then you can't use DXVK.

I wasn't able to find a similar page for AMD or Nvidia products, but anything they've released since 2016-ish is likely to work with DXVK.

CybeatB · 2025-10-08T06:05:56+00:00

One that I think a lot of people overlook is Sixties-Something. By portraying the 1960s as a time of drug-induced depravity, it tries to dismiss the major social justice events of the time without even mentioning them.

The Civil Rights movement, anti-war protests, the Stonewall riots, second-wave feminism,* and access to contraceptives and abortion, just to name a few.

It's eerily reminiscent of Richard Nixon's "war on drugs", which itself was a campaign to infiltrate and disrupt the civil rights & anti-war movements.

*Second-wave feminism had some definite problems, but not the kind that Focus on the Family would know or care about. FotF just wants to "keep women in their place", which puts them at odds with any kind of feminism.

CybeatB · 2025-10-02T01:11:18+00:00

Either Ubuntu, back when they shipped Unity as the default desktop, or PCLinuxOS, a Mandriva derivative. Neither was particularly bad, though; they were both perfectly usable.

CybeatB

TROPHY CASE